Breakdown: Purdue's loss at Rutgers

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Purdue's reign as No. 1 lasted mere days, as the top-ranked Boilermakers were shocked in their Big Ten road opener on Thursday night at Rutgers, done in by Ron Harper Jr.'s buzzer-beater from just inside halfcourt.

The Boilermakers defended the play well, as Jaden Ivey and Ethan Morton converged on Harper as he crossed the timeline, but the Rutgers star euro-stepped through the pair and won it for the Scarlet Knights.

"I've never seen anyone shoot a halfcourt shot like that, where he basically split us," Morton said. "I didn't want to be anywhere near him in case they'd call a foul. I just wanted to show my hands. Credit to him, man. That's an unbelievable shot by an unbelievable player."

Purdue believes it never should have been in that position.

"Coach Keady always used to talk about, 'When you go on the road, you've got to be 10 points better than somebody,'" Coach Matt Painter said, "because if you allow it to be close, crazy things can happen.'

"We allowed it to be close."

And crazy things happened.

PDF: Purdue-Rutgers statistics

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After trailing by a point at halftime following a difficult first half a different opponent might have been able to take even greater advantage of, Purdue rallied to lead by 10 with just eight-and-a-half minutes to play and by eight with just four-and-a-half minutes left.

Those leads went by the wayside, in part because Purdue struggled to keep Rutgers off the foul line and more than struggled to contain Harper Jr. long before he made the game-winner that'll be shown on every sports-highlight show on the country tonight.

With 13 seconds left, Harper scored on a turnaround over Ethan Morton to give Rutgers a 67-66 lead.

Had Purdue held on, the bucket Trevion Williams made about 10 seconds later would have been the biggest shot of the game and another memorable game-winner for the Boilermaker senior.

Nope.

Harper's prayer was answered, and Purdue was left not just to lament a damaging Big Ten loss and the inevitable vacating of the No. 1 ranking but also all that led up to that pivotal moment.

On two crunch-time possessions in the final minute, Purdue turned the ball over, first on an offensive foul called on Williams amidst a crowd in the paint.

"They just all collapsed on me, and it was something I wasn't expecting," Williams said. "When you start off (the game) like I did, you should expect teams to defend you like that. As a player and someone's who's been here I should have known what was coming and found one of my teammates."

Then, Jaden Ivey traveled trying to dribble out of a trap at his end of the floor, giving Rutgers a do-over moments after it had committed an ugly turnover with its own high-stakes possession.

Purdue's 11 turnovers don't look like a particularly gaudy number, but their impact was a stark reminder that the Boilermakers do still have a turnover problem.

That wasn't the only problem at Rutgers.

"Especially in the first half," Painter said, "we just didn't value possessions. We have a handful of plays, shots that we just should not take, where (you don't think) it's a big deal, but then you get beat at the buzzer and it sure looks like a big deal."

This game was basically the exact opposite of both teams' offensive bodies of work offensively prior.

Rutgers came in as one of the worst shooting teams in college basketball.

The Scarlet Knights made 7-of-14 threes and shot 52 percent for the game.

Purdue's blazing offensive start to the season seemed a distant memory on Thursday evening, as the Boilermakers made only 41 percent of their shots.

The difference in the game: Harper Jr.

The game-winner accounted for Points 28, 29 and 30 for the Knights senior and his final act on a night he spent rubbing matchups raw, to the tune of 10-of-15 shooting.

In the first half, Harper Jr. — a wing his first three seasons who's now playing the 4 — went off from three-point range, as Boilermaker big man Caleb Furst was tasked with trying to chase him through screens.

It forced Purdue to go small in response and use Ethan Morton at the 4 almost the entirety of the second half. That cut off Harper's threes, but it just compelled the wide-bodied and brutally strong guard to operate in more post-ups, where he came up with a bunch of key baskets.

While Rutgers shot over its head based on past precedent, the Boilermakers finally shot poorly. One of the best and most consistent three-point shooting teams in the country was just 7-of-26, 27 percent.

Williams led Purdue with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Jaden Ivey scored 15 and Zach Edey shook off a slow start to finish with 13 points.

This is extraordinary: Purdue turned 16 offensive rebounds into 22 points and 15 Rutgers turnovers into 16 points, winning those scoring categories by a combined 38-8.

And it lost.

So what's the lesson here?

"It's not over 'til it's over," guard Eric Hunter said.

It is a stark reminder that even though Purdue was riding high, there have been cracks starting to show up. The Boilermakers are clearly still a work In progress from a defensive perspective — and Harper's eruption tonight wasn't the only issue there — but also, again, must take better care of the basketball. Purdue has lived dangerously there at this times this season and the issue has been amplified in Big Ten play.

Forget No. 1. That's the least of the damage here.

This is a team with credible Big Ten championship aspirations and it just put itself behind an 8 Ball with a loss that hurts both Its title outlook but also its NCAA Tournament résumé.

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