Purdue lost it's second straight game on the road in yet another close one to establish their first losing streak of the season. West Virginia won 68-64. This is WVU's first win over Purdue is school history, prior to this game Purdue was 5-0. West Virginia went on a big run in the last eight minutes to take the lead. Purdue did not go down without a fight as there were seven lead changes over the final eight minutes.
The Boilermakers had a good look to tie it from three with under 10 seconds to go. Ryne Smith put it up, but it was barely off the mark.
Once again, Ryne Smith had an almost silent game after making a big statement in the first three Big Ten games. E'Twaun Moore had outbursts of his good ole self, but continued to struggle. JaJuan Johnson had no problem scoring with 26 points and seven rebounds. Lewis Jackson had another solid game for the Boilers.
Purdue also saw John Hart return, as he came in when Lewis Jackson hurt his ankle. Jackson later returned, looked to be alright, but was seen limping off the court at the half.
After Casey Mitchell made a three with 3:39 left in the game, to give the Mountaineers their largest lead at six, you could feel Purdue was in trouble.
Kevin Jones lead the Mountaineers with 17 points, following him was John Flowers with 15 points.
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Beating West Virginia at home is no easy task. Purdue will need to regroup as a pesky Penn State team plays them at home on Wednesday. On Saturday, they welcome in ESPN College Gameday to Mackey Arena, in the shows first ever appearance in West Lafayette. They will take on Michigan State in that game.A positive about this game, is it wasn't a Big Ten game. Purdue has still only lost one game in conference. They have two important games coming up this week.
If Purdue can get Smith and Moore back on track, and with the addition of John Hart, the Boilermakers can be very dangerous.
Purdue has yet to beat a Top 50 RPI team, dropping two straight to them. They have not proven themselves against the elite teams. They will have plenty of chances to do it down the stretch.
It is time to go back to the drawing board and get some problem resolved. They don't want to be caught in the cross fire of Penn State and Michigan State in the coming week. Those games will be must wins for the Boilermakers, if they want to compete for high NCAA seed and compete for the Big Ten title.