Golden Eagles may have became first team to beat Nos. 1 and 2 in Associated Press poll on consecutive days. MU would have been the top team in the next rankings on Monday if it won, a position it hasn't held since Feb. 20, 1978.
Disjointed play and 7-foot-4 Zach Edey's stature prevented such feats, as Purdue won the Maui Invitational final game at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center 78-75.
“I told the guys in the locker room, there's teams in this field that will play each other in March,” MU coach Shaka Smart said. "It might not be us and Purdue, but there's going to be teams in this field that play again and it won't be in the first round of the tournament."
Edey's influence was noticed immediately as MU center Oso Ighodaro, who led MU's win against No. 1 Kansas on Tuesday, picked up two fouls in the opening four minutes and was benched for much of the first half.
"It's tough to get in a rhythm," MU guard Tyler Kolek said of the first-half lineup changes. "Our defense suffers, not our offense.
You can't get into a defensive groove when you foul often. Whistle, whistle, whistle cannot explain the game. Edey is large and puts you on the block, making him hard to guard. Hard not to foul."
"I think the foul trouble in the first half really took away from our violence of action," he remarked. "We play that way. November 22nd teaches us that we must play our way regardless of conditions.
"I watched them play someone before we got down here, and I said, 'That's the best team in the country,'" he added. "Again, due to their mixture.
"The most dominant force is around the basket, as men cut, move, pass, and shoot. As a defensive squad, you must make them miss and occasionally be lucky that they miss open ones."
MU faced a nine-point deficit after guard Tyler Kolek made two free throws with two seconds left.
"I thought Purdue, man, they made some tough shots in timely moments, including the three-quarter court shot," he remarked. "You know, that counts for three, too."
Getting cracked on the ball screen forces the huge to bounce. We didn't fight over the ball screen well in the first half. Getting into the ball and battling. Just settling for the changeover. We got over screens and kept our bigs on their bigs better in the second half."
Get down and play. Missed free throws. They missed both, so you lay up since free throws are hard. They face much stress. It's different from 18 minutes left in the game.
Loyola (Chicago) was the last club to face the top two AP poll teams back-to-back in 1971-72. Ramblers lost to No. 1 UCLA on Jan. 28 and second-ranked MU the following day.
They recently won the Maui Invitational, which is big. Man, we won two games against pretty good programs. Today, we faced Purdue, who will likely be No. 1 in the poll. But we need to improve."