Breakdown: Purdue's loss at Miami

PDF: Purdue-Miami stats

More ($): Analysis | Wrap Video | Stat Blast | Final Thoughts | Podcast

Purdue was rolling, up 32-14 — fourteen — at halftime at Miami Tuesday night, having just flashed an unmistakable glimpse of its ceiling.

Then came the floor.

Miami, playing without dynamic guard Chris Lykes, arguably its best player, erupted for a 43-19 run to take the lead in the final minute and rolled to a 58-54 win.

The Boilermakers were outscored 44-22 in the second half, a shocking turn of events after Purdue dominated the first half, then beat back an early Hurricane run to rebuild a 17-point lead with 13 minutes left and a 13-point cushion with eight-and-a-half minutes left.

It was a total malfunction for Purdue offensively down the stretch, capping a final 20 minutes in which the visitors shot just 21 percent, starting the half with a run of turnovers that seemed to energize Miami, even though the visitors were able to push back their lead to a robust margin.

Matt Painter's opinion sure seemed to be that this was not a "young team" issue.

"At times we had good looks, but at times we just weren't simple with what we were doing," Painter said. "When you get a post-up at five feet and you're shooting that baby hook and not trying to dunk the basketball, getting the ball at the rim and not trying to tap the basketball, catching the ball at your ankles and trying to shoot a three-pointer ...

"We need some discipline and some mental toughness from people who have played on our team before and we just got zero, and it's unfortunate because we put ourselves in a good position, we had a good defensive game plan and we knew with Lykes being out and how much he generates, we were just going to stop the basketball. They went 1-for-17 from three and that was our game plan. ... It should have been one of those games, even with struggles at the offensive end, that we won 50-35.

"We didn't have the discipline to stop backdoor cuts, stop the dribble in the second half, not foul the shooter. It was a combination of things."

For the game, the Boilermakers were only 4-of-25 from three-point range, but Sasha Stefanovic and Mason Gillis made triples in the second half that seemed to help Purdue sidestep danger.

Nope.

Miami took its first lead since 1-0 with just 1:36 to play. With a chance to tie the game with a three, Isaiah Thompson turned the ball over with 14 seconds left.

That was it. Miami outscored Purdue 44-22 in the second half, despite being down maybe their best offensive player and despite shooting 5.9 percent from three-point range, its only make coming with just five minutes left after Hunter played for a steal, letting Kameron McGusty step into an open shot that finally went down.

Miami found an offensive rhythm in the second half, while Purdue essentially curled up in a ball. Purdue was 6-of-29 from the field after halftime after shooting 48 percent in the first.

The Boilermakers might have held on in spite of it had it not lapsed defensively, failing to stop the dribble as it had in the first, turning the ball over too much early and positioning itself to get hit hard by the referees' whistles. A few 50/50 block-charge calls went against Purdue, and Williams and fellow big man Zach Edey wound up fouling out after both were strong in the first half.

"The ball doesn't always go in (on offense) and you can't do anything about that," Williams said, "but we just have to play harder to be able to close out games."

This was a great test for Purdue, a chance for a team breaking in numerous young players to learn to play through prosperity, not play the scoreboard with a big lead and not take anything for granted.

It did not pass that test.

"We failed to punch them in the mouth like we did in the first half," said forward Mason Gillis, a key contributor for Purdue on this night. "I don't think we came out as aggressive or with the same focus to the details of what we needed to do offensively and defensively. We're going to work on that when we get back."

What exactly went into Purdue's collapse is up for debate, but it harkened back to the loss at Marquette last season.

"The same thing just happened," said junior Eric Hunter, who debuted this season after missing the first four games with a knee injury.

After that game, Painter made his feelings known in no uncertain terms in the locker room afterward regarding his team's "toughness."

His feelings may have been very similar tonight.

"That's what a tough team does, man," Painter said. "A tough team executes, a tough team defends, a tough team rebounds the basketball and stays together. We just got down on ourselves when we were winning the game and controlling the game.

"This is a frustrating one here. This is a frustrating loss."

Very much so.

"We definitely got comfortable," Hunter said. "You can blame the older guys for that."

Purdue was just 4-of-25 from three-point range, including 0-for-4 for Aaron Wheeler, 0-for-3 for Isaiah Thompson and 1-for-5 for Sasha Stefanovic, one of the top shooters in the country to this point. ... Williams, Brandon Newman and Zach Edey all fouled out, as Purdue was whistled for 23 fouls. Edey was 5-for-5 from the floor for a team-high 15 points. ... Hunter scored 11 points in 27 minutes in his debut. ... Brandon Newman scored Purdue's first points of the game, part of an early 15-0 Boilermaker run.

Membership Info: Sign up for GoldandBlack.com now | Why join? | Questions?

Follow GoldandBlack.com: Twitter | Facebook | YouTube

More: Gold and Black Illustrated/Gold and Black Express | Subscribe to our podcast

Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2020. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited.