Indiana searching for answers as No. 15 Purdue visits

The Indiana Hoosiers' 12-2 start, with wins over Louisville and Marquette, seems a distant memory to both the team and its fan base.

The Hoosiers (13-12, 4-10 Big Ten) have been in a free fall, losing 10 of 11 games heading into Tuesday's visit from No. 15 Purdue (18-7, 11-3) at Bloomington, Ind.

Indiana second-year coach Archie Miller has been at a loss for how to right the ship.

"You can try to push as many buttons as you want to push," Miller said. "You need your best players, you need everybody moving in the right direction, rowing in the right direction, working as hard as they possibly can."

The team hit a low on Saturday, losing at Minnesota 84-63. The Hoosiers, who trailed by as many as 30, were 2 of 17 from 3-point line. Meanwhile, the Gophers, the worst 3-point-shooting team in the Big Ten, hit 12 3-pointers.

"For us, this one, this is sort of a deal breaker," Miller said. "We have to make some real, in my opinion, drastic changes to the way we're doing things right now. We've got to get some guys' attention, and we need to get some guys to play better."

Senior forward Juwan Morgan didn't have any answers, either.

"As much as losing sucks, it's only going to keep happening if guys don't really wake up ready to fight," Morgan told the Indianapolis Star.

Miller said the coaching staff is searching for answers.

"We have to recreate ourselves here a little bit," he said. "As you try to recreate yourself at times, you're living and dying with the same mistakes. Eventually, you have to stop living with those mistakes and find out if somebody else can help you at times."

While the Hoosiers have floundered, the Boilermakers have won nine of their last 10 games.

Purdue found a way to win when its top two scorers were struggling in Saturday's 76-64 victory over visiting Penn State.

Junior guard Carsen Edwards, who averages 24.4 points, was hampered by foul problems and committed a season-high seven turnovers. Edwards did finish with 21 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Senior guard Ryan Cline, who averages 12.2 points, scored four, making just 1-of-6 shots.

Purdue coach Matt Painter said it's important for every team to show it can survive when a player that means as much as Edwards does to the team gets in foul trouble.

"I think our win against Michigan State at home when (Edwards) was 4 of 19 was a great signal to everyone, our fans, our players and our coaches, that if play hard, we rebound and defend people, we don't have to be perfect offensively," Painter said. "If you struggle offensively and struggle in those other areas, you are going to get beat."

Purdue sophomore center Matt Haarms, who has been coming off the bench, started on Saturday in place of freshman Trevion Williams, who had been ill and played just two minutes. Haarms finished with a season-high 18 points boosted his average to 8.1.

Haarms said the bench players did an amazing job. One of them was redshirt freshman forward Aaron Wheeler, who scored seven points in 11 minutes.

"That can happen in games like that, you can get in foul trouble and stuff," Wheeler said. "We have to continue to learn how to play without (Edwards), move on offense and play through other guys. It was good to see us be successful with him off the floor."

Painter said the team has had players with good attitudes.

"I think we can get better," Painter said. "I think we can play better than we did the last 10 games, and that's what we want to strive for, just keep getting better."

--Field Level Media