If the game of basketball wasn’t as cruel as it was thrilling, Indiana would have walked off Keady court as winners Friday.

Purdue coach Matt Painter believed so, anyway, and the point didn’t take much arguing in a game the Hoosiers lost on a 10-foot kiss-of-death hook shot from Trey Kaufman-Renn and a subsequent hotly debated block – “Both teams deserved to win,” Painter said. The final score was 81-76, a poor approximation for the inches and turns of fate that separated the two teams.

Hoosiers coach Mike Woodson spoke afterward, eyes unmoving behind his thick black-rimmed glasses, “I thought our guys competed, did a hell of a job. But you know, it's about winning in this league.”

The same can be said for the Boilermakers, who nearly faltered in their hot pursuit of the league’s trophy, in the dog-eat-dog world of the Big Ten. In truth, it came down to a possession, or, from another lens, the 20 Purdue stole in the turnover column.

“We lead the Big Ten in forced turnovers,” Painter said. “And I think anybody that covers us would laugh at that six, seven weeks ago – me included.”

The defensive renaissance has been mystifying for a team that for years has relied much more on its rebounding for extra possessions than its opportunism. It needed extra possessions Friday night, and will continue to need them if it is to capture that league trophy or compete in the gleaming lights of March. Purdue shot only 2-of-13 from 3-point range against Indiana, and since an outburst of net-searing shooting against Nebraska two weeks ago, has hit at a mere 27% rate.

Painter contemplated that even if the number had been 15 Indiana turnovers instead of 20 – still worse than average for a Hoosier team that averages 12 in conference play – the game’s outcome likely changes. Instead, Braden Smith swiped six steals, including one very late one from imposing center Oumar Ballo (who Kaufman-Renn quipped was twice his weight) as he bore down on Purdue’s beleaguered frontcourt in a 2-point game. Besides Smith, four Boilermakers recorded at least one steal, and two finagled multiple.

Painter is still urging his team, unflinchingly built to win in the painted area, to rebound harder. It lost by six in that category, the other part of the possession equation.

“I didn't think we were quick to the ball,” he said. “You gotta jump. You gotta go get it. We had guys looking.”

Those extra cracks at the hoop loom large for a team that ranks seventh in America in points scored per possession when adjusting for strength of opponent. Smith knows this as the catalyst of Purdue’s offense, and he and his teammates have grown progressively better at keeping and taking the ball: Purdue now averages 10.8 turnovers per game on offense and creates 13.4 on defense, a combination of stinginess and aggression not seen in West Lafayette since 2010-11.

“We've been in so many of these games to the point where we're comfortable,” Smith said. “I don't think we bat an eye.”

Indiana held a 4-point lead at halftime. Smith turned to his younger teammates; “It’s a game of runs,” he said. “It’s gonna happen.”

The Hoosiers had more in store for their opponents in the second half. For the ninth time this season, Purdue conceded a 10-0 run, with Friday night’s beginning with 12 minutes left to play and not subsiding until four minutes later. It featured four of Smith’s six turnovers on the night as the Hoosiers blitzed him on the pick-and-roll, obstructing the space usually created for him.

The Hoosiers also swallowed up three offensive rebounds in that span – Purdue was losing the possession battle, and a glance at the scoreboard revealed the game was slipping away, too.

Then something clicked. Maybe it was Fletcher Loyer finally burying one of the two elusive 3-pointers the Boilers made all night, after Smith finally regained his ability to complete a pass. Maybe it was the Mackey crowd, packed tighter than a spring break suitcase, willing its team to win.

Whatever it was, it inspired Purdue to become that pilfering, possession hoarding crew once again. Twice the Boilers forced a turnover, and twice they corralled an offensive board. They retook a lead minutes after Loyer’s 3.

“We kept our head in the game and kept our composure, and just went out and played basketball,” Smith said. “It was an ugly win. We'll take it.”

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