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Painter challenges Boilermakers

Posted by: Paul Klee

Monday, January 18, 2010 11:29 AM

If you remember back two weeks ago, Purdue coach Matt Painter called out the Boilermakers after a 19-point win against Minnesota, saying the Gophers outplayed the Boilers, but the Boilers just hit more shots. Seemed odd at the time; now we see why: Purdue has lost three straight since then.

Painter saw something back then that since has come to fruition. Purdue isn't the same team it was a month ago - or even two weeks ago - and he let his players know it on the Big Ten coaches call this morning. He publicly challenged his players, using words like "meltdown," just in time to get them fired up for Purdue's visit to the Assembly Hall on Tuesday (8 p.m., ESPN). A few snippets from Painter:

-On Purdue's struggles: "We have a couple guys in Robbie Hummel and E'Twaun Moore that are playing at a very high level. We've got to get the other guys on the same page."

-On three-time Big Ten All-Defensive team selection Chris Kramer: "He hasn't been our defensive stopper the past couple weeks. Evan Turner, Jason Bohannon, Drew Crawford. You can go across the board. Those guys have gotten the best of him."

-On Purdue's first three-game losing streak since '06: "We haven't played very well. It's not anything magical. But we've also played three pretty good teams (UW, OSU, Northwestern). We're not very tough, we don't play hard enough, we don't chase rebounds. When you do that against good teams, you're going to get beat."

-On a 72-64 loss in Evanston: "I think Northwestern was a lot better than us on Saturday."

-And, finally: "We've got to find some guys that want to get the job done."

So you can expect a more determined Purdue squad at Illinois on Tuesday.

PKlee_IlliniHQ

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