Purdue had Florida State beat.
As in, the game was won, what would have been one of the best road wins the program has earned in some time, an NCAA Tournament résumé centerpiece.
All the Boilermakers had to do, really, was take care of the basketball, to make what their coach, Matt Painter, would call a "simple" play here or there.
It couldn't, and what would have been the best road win of the college basketball season up until Syracuse won at injury-riddled Duke the other day went by the wayside, because of turnovers, the late-game meltdown that cost Purdue that marquee victory.
That was Nov. 28 that Purdue committed 20 turnovers in Tallahassee, a little more than a month-and-a-half ago.
Recent results make it seem like a year-and-a-half ago.
In Purdue's last nine games, starting right after it turned the ball over 16 times at home in a narrow win over Maryland, it's averaged only 7.3 turnovers per game.
Purdue's now played 17 games, Maryland standing as the midway point of its season to date, or thereabouts.
Prior to and including Maryland, Purdue committed 10 or more turnovers in all but one game. Since, it's committed 10 or more twice — 10 apiece in one-sided wins at home over Ohio and Belmont. Purdue's turnover numbers since the resumption of Big Ten play: Eight, nine, eight, eight. The Boilermakers are 3-1 in those games, now 4-2 in the league overall heading into Saturday's visit from Indiana.
It's pushed the Boilermakers into the top 25 nationally in turnover percentage, per KenPom.com, at only 15.7 percent.
"Our guys have done a good job of kind of knowing when to go, when not to go," Painter said. "We still have a handful of empty possessions we'd like to have back, but the numbers have been really good for us the past two or three weeks."
Painter's view on the game is heavily influenced by the possessions column. He's always put a premium on rebounding, and both limiting and creating turnovers, in hopes of maximizing possessions.
His most recent Purdue team is living up, especially in the latter category.
"It's something Coach Painter has stressed since the day I walked in," senior Grady Eifert said. "It doesn't matter who you are, whether you have the ball in your hands (a lot) or you don't, you always want to take care of the ball. It's not just been this team, but a lot of past teams, that one of our main focuses has been taking care of the ball. When you can take care of the basketball and rebound at a high level, it gives you more chances, both offensively and defensively."
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Against Texas and Notre Dame, Purdue didn't turn the ball over much, but really struggled on defense. Against Maryland, it turned the ball over too much, but won the game on defense, holding the Terrapins to 35-percent shooting and closing out the second half with a stifling stretch.
Still, Painter views turnovers and defensive success as deeply connected, because one undermines the other.
Keeping down turnovers has kept Purdue out of scramble mode, out of the compromised positions of transition defense.
That helps.
It's notable that Purdue is keeping its turnover numbers within reason, and then some.
This is a young — or otherwise new — team, one known to play particularly boldly in the backcourt.
"We're an aggressive team," said point guard Nojel Eastern, coming off a turnover-free game against Rutgers, a game in which no Boilermaker committed more than one, "but it's all focus and our decision-making skills. When we play within ourselves and don't try to over-do too much, (taking care of the ball) comes naturally."
Midway through the season, Purdue is undergoing a bit of an in-season shift, due to the emergence of freshman big man Trevion Williams.
The Boilermakers are back to feeding the low post with regularity — another turnover pitfall being side-stepped — and doing so to a freshman who barely played in November.
On significant post usage the past seven games, Williams has yet to turn the ball over more than once in a game. In that span, he's registered nine assists against four turnovers, playing a position where teams aren't always north of even.
"He's pretty poised in there, pretty calm," Cline said of Williams, "and it obviously shows."
Collectively, Purdue is looking as much, as well.
It's looked like a team that's settling in, after spending the late fall breaking in new players or returning players in new roles.
"We're starting to come together more as a unit," Cline said, "and not playing as much for ourselves as we are for Purdue as a whole."
Purdue's turnover numbers weren't egregiously bad early in the season, but as it lost a series of close games, every lost possession might have been the one that mattered most.
Now, Purdue can look at its eight-turnover showing in 45 minutes worth of overtime win at Wisconsin as testament to its progress.
"Those first couple non-conference games we lost were really close games," Cline said. "As we're playing now, maybe that wouldn't have happened."
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