Purdue basketball players stay united when things go awry

BLOOMINGTON − Within a couple hours Saturday we saw why Purdue basketball still has its doubters.

And we saw why the Boilermakers are one of the top teams in the country.

Down 15 at halftime to rival Indiana, Purdue came out the second half unfazed in the most hostile environment the Boilers have played in all season, no disrespect to Michigan State, Michigan, Ohio State or anyone else.

Then there was the moment most didn't see that happened in the postgame press conference with Purdue's best player that verifies what the Boilermakers have said all season about how unified this team is.

Freshman point guard Braden Smith had a turnover in the final minute, was asked specifically about it, and he owned up to it.

After doing so, Zach Edey took the mic and went to bat for his teammate, unprovoked.

"Just to clarify, that was one play obviously in a big moment, but every play is big in a game like this," Edey said. "I had too many (three) turnovers in the first half. I didn’t come out with the energy I needed. ...

"You can point out three to four plays by anyone that could have made up that one possession, so it’s not just on him. It’s on the entire team."

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How Smith responded was with poise far more mature than someone who is 19 years old.

The play before, he'd seen Mason Gillis, fresh off a Wednesday night game where he was hotter than fire, wide open in the corner.

Gillis appeared open again, this time with Purdue trailing 73-70 and if he knocks down the shot, Purdue would've climbed out of what once was a 16-point deficit. But Smith hung in the air and tried to whip the ball to Gillis, only it was intercepted by Indiana's Race Thompson.

"I think at the end of the day, that one turnover cost us," Smith said. "I feel like we had it there to win it. The one time we needed to win I turned it over. I’ve got to be better on my part and move on."

Edey could've left it alone, a sufficient answer that had reporters ready for the next topic of why No. 1 Purdue lost to its rival 79-74 at Assembly Hall.

But Edey wouldn't let a freshman, whose only turnover of the night came in a pivotal moment in a game where he had six assists and three steals, take the blame.

Neither would David Jenkins Jr., a sixth-year senior now playing for his fourth college basketball program.

"Braden threw a turnover at the end of the game," Jenkins said. "That doesn’t mean anything. We didn’t lose off that one possession."

Jenkins then rambled off a turnover he himself made that was perhaps overlooked because of how the game played out, then noted several moments that could be pinpointed.

"I like how we handled adversity at the end of the day," Jenkins said. "We came back and responded in the second half and we’re going to respond to this loss as well going into the next few games."

Guess who else took blame for a turnover in a crucial moment?

It wasn't anyone on the floor.

Boilermakers coach Matt Painter saw Edey in a one-on-one but when things broke down and the Hoosiers helped on Edey, Painter let his team play through it rather than call a timeout.

A bounce pass to Edey wasn't corralled and Indiana took the ball off the floor and went the other way.

After turning the ball over 11 times in the first half, Purdue had looked like a different team since halftime at that point, with less than five minutes remaining.

"It took us until halftime to recalibrate and kind of get ourselves in a position where now we can focus," Painter said.

But, hindsight is Painter should've called timeout, so he accepted responsibility.

The final score, and the court storming that ensued because of it, says Purdue lost on Saturday. The way the Boilermakers handled it tells us they might be better because of it.

"We don’t lose," Jenkins said. "We learn at the end of the day."

Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Purdue basketball players stay united when things go awry