LOS ANGELES − The veteran presence on the Purdue basketball roster has allowed the Boilermakers to brace themselves for moments like Tuesday.
Leading by six points with less than two minutes to go, fourth-ranked Purdue somehow left Pauley Pavilion with a 69-67 loss at UCLA.
Braden Smith has been here before and it allowed the senior point guard to approach what happened auspiciously.
“We want to win every game. It’s obviously our goal,” Smith said on a night where he had two turnovers during UCLA’s 8-0 run over the final 1:32. “At the end of the day, we understand it’s going to happen. We’re going to lose or they’re going to get us on our bad night. They’re going to get us on a night where we don’t play well.”
This is the ebb and flow of a season.
The Boilermakers won a game at USC on Saturday they probably shouldn’t have. On Tuesday, Jan. 20, they lost a game they should’ve won.
“I don’t think we played our best basketball,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “You also can’t look at things (like) because you missed shots you didn’t play well. I think that gets confused sometimes. Did you shoot well? Did you play well? We didn’t shoot as well as we’re capable but I thought our guys competed.”
Purdue, in a lot of ways, progressed from Saturday’s win despite not getting the same result against the Bruins.
That’s the fine line you balance over a long season.
Smith, Trey Kaufman-Renn and Fletcher Loyer learned that two years ago starting for one of the best teams Purdue has ever had.
That team lost five games, including one to an Ohio State team that had lost seven of its previous eight and just fired its head coach.
“You’ve got to move on immediately,” Kaufman-Renn said. “We have three days and another game.”
In this case, it’s Illinois visiting Mackey Arena on Saturday.
It’s a long season.
The way Smith put it, one loss can’t become two or three losses.
Teams that can navigate it best and take losses in stride will benefit in the end.
The last time Purdue lost was six weeks ago. Before Tuesday night, the Boilermakers had won 10 straight since Iowa State shocked Purdue in its own gym on Dec. 6.
“With the Iowa State loss, it definitely helped us a lot and taught us a lot about where we need to be and what we need to do,” said sophomore CJ Cox, whose potential game-winning 3-point attempt hit off the front of the rim to seal UCLA’s upset. “And I feel like this loss on the road is another one of those losses that will help us become better when it comes to later in the Big Ten and March Madness.”
Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on X and Instagram @samueltking.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Why Purdue doesn’t expect its collapse vs UCLA to damage its season
Reporting by Sam King, Lafayette Journal & Courier / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
