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Again, turnovers cost Purdue, this time in Big Ten Tournament loss to Wisconsin

On3 imageby: Brian Neubert03/16/24brianneubert
Purdue's Zach Edey
Purdue's Zach Edey (Matt Krohn/USA Today Sports)

MINNEAPOLIS — Purdue hasn’t lost very often this season, but when it has, there’s been a consistent and easily discernible root cause: Turnovers.

Wisconsin scored 15 points off the Boilermakers’ 16 giveaways Saturday, then scored at the buzzer to tie the game at the end of regulation to force overtime, then again in the final seconds of OT to win, 76-75, ending Purdue’s hopes of the repeating as Big Ten Tournament champions.

Max Klesmit‘s runner in the final seconds of overtime won it, moments after Purdue’s costliest turnover of the night, a push-off called against Braden Smith as he was trying to separate from Chucky Hepburn, the very player who’s driving bucket at the buzzer forced overtime in the first place.

It came moments after Purdue committed a tuirnover when Braden Smith was called for a push-off on Chucky Hepburn, up one in the final 30 seconds.

“I was just trying to get him off me, because I’d kinda gotten fouled the whole way (up the floor),” a dejected Smith said after looking just fine, but battling foul trouble, a day after hurting his leg against Michigan State.

Prior, a flurry of turnovers in the second half — six in the span of five minutes — barred Purdue from building cushion in a game it had fought to tie at 36 at half despite getting only seven minutes from Zach Edey, who was called for a foul on a rebound roughly two minutes into the game, then part of a double technical jawing with a Badger player, saddling him with two fouls in one fell swoop.

“I have to keep my head better,” Edey said. “That’s on me. I can’t be talking back to people. I should be better than that.”

Edey finished with 28 points, becoming Purdue’s all-time leading scorer in the second half.

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PDF: Purdue-Wisconsin box score

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