Indiana began the season with 12 consecutive victories.But coach Tom Crean said IU is a better team now than they were after capturing that 12th straight victory Dec. 22 against Maryland-Baltimore County.The No.BLOOMINGTON – Verdell Jones III took about four dribbles as he raced down the court in the final seconds Thursday against Purdue. The Indiana guard stopped and then took a long-distance three-pointer, which hit the rim but didn’t go in.
The sophomore fell near half court and repeatedly banged his head softly on the floor. The Hoosiers scrapped but couldn’t pull off the upset, losing to the No. 8 Boilermakers 78-75 in front of 17,406 fans at Assembly Hall.
“I’m not here to be close with Purdue,” IU coach Tom Crean said. “We’re here to beat them. And we just didn’t do it.”
There were plenty of missed opportunities down the stretch.
Indiana pulled ahead 69-66 on a three-pointer by Jordan Hulls with 5:43 to go. The Hoosiers didn’t score again until the final minute.
In between, they had chances at the foul line. Hulls, Derek Elston and Jones missed the front ends of one-and-one free throws in the final five minutes.
“Nobody goes to the line to miss foul shots. I’m disappointed for them,” Crean said. “It’s just a tough deal. We had guys going up there that are very confident free-throw shooters.”
Hulls, an 80 percent free-throw shooter, missed with the Hoosiers’ leading 69-68 with 4:29 to go.
Elston, who came into the game shooting 58 percent from the line, missed with IU down by one with 2:29 to go.
Jones shoots 69 percent from the line. His miss came when Purdue led 73-69 with 1:42 remaining.
“It was very disappointing,” said Jones, who had 22 points.
IU made 13 of its first 15 free throws. But missed the final three.
“We were fortunate there. Especially Hulls,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “… He’s a great free-throw shooter. You have to have a little bit of luck. And there’s no question in that stretch when they missed those free throws, that luck really helped us.”
