Thanks to turnovers, Purdue routed on the road to open Big Ten play

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — These December Big Ten road openers have not been kind to Purdue in recent years for some reason.

Actually a pretty clear reason: Turnovers.

Thursday night at Penn State, eighth-ranked Purdue wilted against the home team’s defensive pressure, committing 24 turnovers that led to 26 Nittany Lion points, falling 81-70, the final score warping the reality of the game.

Trey Kaufman-Renn and Fletcher Loyer each scored 15 points, but committed seven and five turnovers, respectively, though two of the former’s turnovers put Matt Painter on the officials hard enough to merit his first technical foul since 2015. Those two foul shots gave Penn State its first 20-point lead, en route to as many as 27.

Fouls were part of the story, but only part. More important was Purdue’s clear lack of poise in the face of Penn State’s pressure and physicality.

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