Is Purdue basketball loss an anomaly or sign of things to come?

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Was this an anomaly in a long, grueling season or a sign of things to come?

Purdue basketball's offense has shown its ability to bludgeon opponents with a dose of Zach Edey and the open shots it gets as a byproduct of having Zach Edey.

Ohio State took away both. And Purdue crumbled.

Commence another court storming at the expense of the Boilermakers.

This time, a 73-69 loss to the Buckeyes at Value City Arena Sunday, not even a 20-for-20 performance from the free throw line could atone for Purdue's miscues.

"There are some things there, but we're aware of them," forward Trey Kaufman-Renn said. "So it's our job to go back and practice and try to eliminate those unfortunate things."

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Zach Edey turned the ball over six times and was saddled with two early fouls.

Credit Zed Key for digging the ball away from Edey countless times. Edey refused to talk about it after.

Jake Diebler, a winner in his head coaching debut, said that was all on Key.

"That was a feel thing I think for him," Diebler said of Key's ability to help turn Edey over six times.

When Edey is limited, typically, Purdue can bury opponents with a flurry of 3-pointers.

But the Boilermakers attempted just nine, a season low, due to Ohio State's ability to simultaneously guard Purdue's two biggest offensive strengths.

"This wasn't our game to get 3s off," point guard Braden Smith said. "They did a good job getting our shooters off."

Without the 3 and with Edey unable to shed Key's wavering hands every time he went to the rim, Purdue needed a near perfect performance everywhere else.

And it wasn't.

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Ohio State scored 22 points off Purdue's 14 turnovers and even though Lance Jones' 3 tied the game with 1:39 to go, the Buckeyes outplayed the No. 2 team in the country and deserved to win, then did thanks to the duo of Bruce Thornton and Jamison Battle combining for 41 points.

"The stat that probably jumps out to me is their points off of turnovers," Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "That's the game right there. If we take care of the basketball and those turnovers and we just miss shots, we probably win the game."

So, is this a concerning game with the regular season nearing its end?

Are some Purdue fans already throwing up their hands and saying, "well, March is just around the corner," ready to concede because in their minds the Boilermakers forget how to play basketball depending which month it is?

Or is this a rare outlier which tends to happen in Big Ten play?

We've seen this before.

At Northwestern. At Nebraska. And now at Ohio State.

The common thread being turnovers and points off turnovers.

In each of the previous two losses, Purdue seemed undeterred and responded accordingly.

Ohio State played inspired with an interim coach and had its best defensive game of the season.

Purdue is frustrated, but not finished.

"I've got the ultimate confidence in the guys in our locker room, the same confidence I had at the beginning of this game is the same confidence I have now," Edey said. "We know what we have. We know who we are. We know what we can do and we know what's in front of us.

"I don't think anyone has their head down in that locker room."

Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Did Purdue basketball learn from a loss at Ohio State?