For the third consecutive day, there's a new No. 1 in the CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings. On Wednesday morning, it was Alabama. On Thursday morning, it was Purdue. Now, on Friday morning, it's Houston — because Matt Painter's Boilermakers lost for the third time in four outings Thursday night, this time 68-54 at Maryland.
"We have to be tougher," Painter said following the loss that pulled Northwestern to just one game back of the first-place Boilermakers in the loss column of the Big Ten standings. "You have to come in here and win the possession battle. You have to have more rebounds and fewer turnovers. Now you can start right there and work toward something — [but] we didn't do that. When you get on the road and you have fewer possessions [than your opponent], and now you don't shoot well, oh, that's going to be a long night versus a quality team."
To Painter's point, Purdue finished with 12 fewer rebounds than Maryland, including seven fewer offensive rebounds, took three fewer shots, six fewer free throws and made just 15.4% of its 3-point attempts. It was indeed a long night in a troubling stretch that has the Boilermakers slipping closer and closer to maybe being something less than a No. 1 seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament, which seemed way unlikely just two weeks ago when they were 22-1 overall, 11-1 in the Big Ten.
They're now 23-4 overall, 12-4 in the Big Ten.
That's still great, obviously — but there's no getting around the idea that Purdue has come back to Earth a bit for a variety of reasons, among them the fact that freshman guard Fletcher Loyer is just 7 of 27( 25.9%) from the field in the Boilermakers' past three losses. Also worth noting: Purdue is 13 of 53 (24.5%) as a team from 3-point range in its past three losses.
Purdue is down to No. 4 in Friday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 — behind No. 1 Houston, No. 2 Alabama and No. 3 Kansas. The Boilermakers will return to the court Sunday, when they host struggling Ohio State at 1 p.m. ET on CBS.
Top 25 And 1 rankings
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Marcus Sasser finished with 20 points and four assists in Thursday's 80-65 win at SMU. The Cougars' next game is Sunday against Memphis. | 1 | 1-0 |
| 2 |  | Noah Clowney missed seven of the nine shots he attempted in Wednesday's 68-59 loss at Tennessee.The Crimson Tide's next game is Saturday against Georgia. | 1 | 1-0 |
| 3 |  | Gradey Dick finished with 26 points and three assists in Tuesday's 87-76 win at Oklahoma State. The Jayhawks' next game is Saturday against Baylor. | 1 | 1-0 |
| 4 |  | Purdue shot just 15.4% from 3-point range in Thursday's 68-54 loss at Maryland. The Boilermakers' next game is Sunday against Ohio State. | 3 | 1-0 |
| 5 |  | Jaime Jaquez Jr. finished with 26 points and nine rebounds in Thursday's 73-64 win over Stanford. The Bruins' next game is Saturday against Cal. | -- | 1-0 |
| 6 |  | LJ Cryer finished with 26 points and one rebound in Monday's 79-67 win over West Virginia. The Bears' next game is Saturday at Kansas. | -- | 0-1 |
| 7 |  | Timmy Allen was held to just two points in Monday's 74-67 loss at Texas Tech. The Longhorns' next game is Saturday against Oklahoma. | -- | 0-1 |
| 8 |  | Kihei Clark finished with 14 points and six assists in Wednesday's 61-58 win at Louisville. The Cavaliers' next game is Saturday against Notre Dame. | -- | 0-0 |
| 9 |  | Kerr Kriisa finished with 17 points and six assists in Thursday's 88-62 win over Utah. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday against Colorado. | -- | 1-0 |
| 10 |  | Julian Strawther finished with 30 points and three rebounds in Thursday's 108-65 win at Loyola Marymount. The Zags' next game is Saturday at Pepperdine. | -- | 1-0 |
| 11 |  | Stevie Mitchell finished with 17 points and four rebounds in Wednesday's 69-68 win over Xavier. The Golden Eagles' next game is Tuesday at Creighton. | -- | 1-0 |
| 12 |  | Adam Kunkel missed eight of the 11 shots he attempted in Wednesday's 69-68 loss at Marquette. The Musketeers' next game is Saturday against DePaul. | -- | 1-0 |
| 13 |  | Nijel Pack finished with 23 points and two steals in Monday's 80-72 win at North Carolina. The Hurricanes' next game is Saturday against Wake Forest. | -- | 1-0 |
| 14 |  | Santiago Vescovi finished with 15 points and eight rebounds in Wednesday's 68-59 win over Alabama. The Vols' next game is Saturday at Kentucky. | -- | 1-0 |
| 15 |  | Aljaz Kunc finished with 22 points and five rebounds in Wednesday's 70-59 win over TCU. The Cyclones' next game is Saturday at Kansas State. | -- | 1-0 |
| 16 |  | Markquis Nowell finished with 14 points and six assists in Tuesday's 79-65 loss at Oklahoma. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday against Iowa State. | -- | 1-0 |
| 17 |  | Mitchell Saxen finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds in Thursday's 62-59 win at San Diego. The Gaels' next game is Saturday against BYU. | -- | 1-0 |
| 18 |  | Matt Bradley finished with 10 points and three assists in Wednesday's 45-43 win at Fresno State. The Aztecs' next game is Tuesday against Colorado State. | -- | 0-0 |
| 19 |  | Boo Buie finished with 21 points and six rebounds in Wednesday's 64-62 win over Indiana. The Wildcats' next game is Sunday against Iowa. | 1 | 1-0 |
| 20 |  | Miller Kopp finished 1 of 6 from the field in Wednesday's 64-62 loss at Northwestern. The Hoosiers' next game is Saturday against Illinois. | 1 | 0-0 |
| 21 |  | Adama Sanogo missed 10 of the 17 shots he attempted in Saturday's 56-53 loss at Creighton. The Huskies' next game is Saturday against Seton Hall. | 1 | 0-0 |
| 22 |  | Will Baker finished with 19 points and five rebounds in Friday's 77-66 win over Fresno State. The Wolf Pack's next game is Saturday at Utah State. | 1 | 1-0 |
| 23 |  | Devin Carter finished with 25 points and eight rebounds in Tuesday's 94-86 double-overtime win over Creighton. The Friars' next game is Saturday against Villanova. | 1 | 1-0 |
| 24 |  | Baylor Scheierman missed 10 of the 12 3-pointers he attempted in Tuesday's 94-86 double-overtime loss at Providence. The Bluejays' next game is Saturday at St. John's. | 1 | 0-0 |
| 25 |  | Jahmir Young finished with 20 points and four assists in Thursday's 68-54 win over Purdue. The Terrapins' next game is Sunday at Nebraska. | NR | 1-0 |
| 26 |  | Blake Hinson finished with 21 points and seven rebounds in Tuesday's 77-58 win over Boston College. The Panthers' next game is Saturday at Virginia Tech. | -- | 1-0 |
In: Maryland Out: FAU
