Not since February of 2018 had the Purdue men's basketball team lost at home, coming into Saturday night. That changes as the 23rd-ranked Boilermakers were thwarted 70-66 by Texas in a back-and-forth grinder of a game.
Sasha Stefanovic got off to a hot start after missing the team's first game with an ankle injury. He hit his first four three point attempts, but made just one shot the rest of the game.
Still, his 14 points represented a team high as Purdue struggled to score the ball all evening, shooting just 41 percent from the field.
Purdue did manage to outrebound their opponents, pulling down 36 to Texas's 24. Seventeen of those were on the offensive end, but they were only able to turn them into nine second chance points.
After the game Head Coach Matt Painter noted the team struggled to get good shots in crunch time -- in a game they led with two minutes to go -- and in the absence of a true scorer like Carsen Edwards was all last year.
Both teams struggled taking care of the basketball. Texas turned the ball over 16 times, and Purdue 14 -- resulting in 15 points apiece off turnovers.
The high scorer on the night was Texas' Matt Coleman with 22 points, effectively running the pick and roll offense all night long. The ball was in his hands as the game drew to a close, as he hit multiple clutch free throws.
Purdue plays at Marquette Wednesday before returning to Mackey Arena next Saturday.
