Purdue hasn’t been tough enough, coach says

Everyone wants to know what went wrong with Purdue after that 14-0 start where Final Four expectations were heaped upon the Boilermakers.

Coach Matt Painter said the solution to breaking out of a three-game losing slump isn’t all that complicated. “We’re not very tough,” he said.

The evidence in that is being outrebounded in five straight games, including 115-81 in the three consecutive losses to Wisconsin, Ohio State and Northwestern. The Boilermakers’ once stringent defense has turned flimsy with Ohio State shooting 51% and Northwestern 45.7%, despite a season average of holding teams to 40.3%.

“We have some experienced players who aren’t playing hard,” Painter said.

Purdue, which travels to Illinois today, hasn’t found enough production lately from some of its starters. Other than forward Robbie Hummel and guard E’Twaun Moore, Painter said, “it’s a huge drop-off from there.”

The Boilermakers (14-3) need JaJuan Johnson, who fouled out with two rebounds and seven points against Northwestern, to stay out of foul trouble and guard Chris Kramer to return to his typical lockdown defense form.

Sidney watch

Mississippi State could receive some good news by the end of the week on Renardo Sidney’s status.

Sidney, a 6-foot-10 freshman forward who was considered a top-10 recruit, has been sitting out all season while the NCAA looks into his amateur status and eligibility.

“Nothing has been decided for sure,” Coach Rick Stansbury said on a teleconference. “Hopefully the end’s probably in sight a little bit more than it has been.”

Swish of the week

Trevor Booker, Clemson. The senior forward dominated against North Carolina (21 points) and North Carolina State (20 points) to help the Tigers look like contenders in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Brick of the week

DePaul. Not only do the Blue Demons fire Coach Jerry Wainwright last week, but the team loses its best player for the second time this season. Junior forward/center Mac Koshwal will be out for two to four weeks with another broken foot, this time the right one. And to make matters worse, they’re still not winning. DePaul’s Big East losing streak has reached 24 regular-season games, including an 0-5 start this season.

Game of the week

Ohio State at West Virginia, Saturday. The Buckeyes lost at Butler, Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota. Their only significant road victory was at Purdue with Evan Turner having returned from a back injury. The Mountaineers have lost three of their last five and are trying to regain some momentum behind Da’Sean Butler and Devin Ebanks.

sryan@tribune.com