What does Purdue's season sweep mean for Indiana basketball?

WEST LAFAYETTE — Indiana basketball coach Mike Woodson wasn’t willing to make any sweeping assessments of his program coming off a 79-59 loss to No. 2 Purdue on Saturday night.

Woodson was asked several questions about the state of the Hoosiers (14-10; 6-7 Big Ten) after suffering another lopsided defeat at the hands of their rival. It was the team’s fourth loss of 20-points or more this season.

“I thought our team the last two years was right there,” Woodson said, of the rivalry. “I think we beat Purdue the last three out of four outings prior to this season. So I thought our team was pretty special last season and the season before.”

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Purdue has rarely dominated Indiana basketball quite like it did this season

This is only the second time in the modern era that Purdue (22-2; 11-2) has swept a season series against Indiana with a pair of double-digit wins.

The last time it happened was in 1936-37.

It’s also the largest margin of victory for Purdue in a single-season (41 points) over Indiana since 1968-69 (45 points), but that was largely because Boilermakers won the second game between the teams that season by 120-76.

The final score on Saturday could have been worse if not for some late scoring from IU’s bench cut into a Purdue lead that ballooned to 28-points after Zach Edey hit his first career 3-pointer. The 7-foot-4 center dominated with 26 points, 13 rebounds (six offensive), four assists and two blocks.

“They have grown together,” Woodson said. “We revamped our team this summer with 10 new faces on our ball club and we're young. I'm not using that as an excuse. I still expect to win, but it's kind of caught us a little bit.”

While Purdue had plenty to gloat about — it was the team’s ninth straight win — coach Matt Painter offered the same kind of perspective as Woodson.

“They swept us last year even though we won the Big Ten by three games, they simply outplayed us,” Painter said. “Jalen Hood-Schifino was so good here last year. I think we helped him get to the NBA.”

Mike Woodson not afraid to call Purdue a ‘pretty damn good team’

Indiana is also missing its veteran-most player in Xavier Johnson, who is out indefinitely with an elbow injury.

Woodson mentioned how the Hoosiers missed his presence multiple times. True freshman Gabe Cupps started in Johnson’s place and struggled matching up with Purdue guard Braden Smith. Smith had 19 points (15 in the first half) with four assists and four steals.

“We have a young team that's still trying to figure each other out,” Woodson said. “Not having X has been huge for this team. A point guard, a senior point guard that can help lead, so that's been missing.

The bottom line for Woodson is that Purdue is a “pretty damn good team” this year. Indiana is stuck in the middle of the pack that has only been able to play well in spurts.

“We haven't been able to just put 40-minute ball games together like we have in the past,” Woodson said. “That's been some of the frustration.”

Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Indiana basketball not making excuses for lopsided losses to Purdue