It’s still early in Big Ten play, but Iowa’s performance in conference games on the road is becoming predictable.

After getting blown out by Michigan State in East Lansing on Dec. 3, 90-68, the Hawkeyes suffered another rough loss to a conference foe, this time getting toppled by Purdue, 86-70, in West Lafayette on Thursday.

The Hawkeyes found a way to hang with the Boilermakers early, matching Purdue’s efforts on the offensive end. Iowa hit its first 3 3-pointers to start the game, but after making 6 of its 8 shots, things went downhill.

After Purdue led 19-17, the Boilermakers went on a 14-3 run to take a 13-point lead, as the Hawkeyes went cold from the field, hitting just 1 of their next 7 shots after their hot start. The Boilermakers held a 17-point lead as the halftime buzzer sounded.

“I’m concerned about how we played in that stretch, there’s no question, especially at the end of the half,” Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery said. “We were there and then they went on a run… You can’t go on the road at Purdue and go down 17.”

The second half wouldn’t be kind to Iowa either. Purdue pushed its lead to as many as 26 in the latter half of the game as the Hawkeyes forced some bad shots and allowed the Boilermakers to mount another run.

Iowa struggled down low for the second game in a row in the absence of Luka Garza, as the Boilermakers outscored Iowa 42-30 in the paint.

McCaffery said Garza practiced on Wednesday, but was not ready to play. Purdue took advantage.

“We got confused on some switches where we shouldn’t have been switching,” McCaffery said. “The way they’re spaced and the stuff that [Purdue head coach Matt Painter] runs is too organized to try to run around and stop everything. You got to mark a guy or two, that’s one thing, and then you got to stay solid everywhere else. We were not.”

It didn’t matter whether Purdue tried to get a good look inside or let it go from deep – it seemed as if the Boilermakers couldn’t miss.

Purdue shot 53 percent from the floor and hit 9 shots from behind the arc.

Iowa struggled to defend Carsen Edwards and Matt Haarms, letting Edwards – the nation’s second-leading scorer – score 16 in the first half before ending with 21, hitting 3 3s in the process.

Haarms racked up 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting and was effective from the free-throw line, burying all 6 of his attempts.

The Boilermaker bench brought it as well, scoring 39, compared to Iowa’s 10 bench points.

Despite struggling on the defensive end of the floor, the Hawkeyes showed their offensive ability from the tip, shooting 48 percent.

Tyler Cook led Iowa for the seventh time in eight games, dropping in 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting and 6 rebounds. Iowa also got solid minutes from Isaiah Moss and Ryan Kriener.

Moss racked up 13 points, including 7 of Iowa’s first 13, while Kriener added 10 on 3-of-3 shooting in Garza’s absence.

Turnovers, however, proved to be the Hawkeyes’ downfall on offense. Iowa committed 14 miscues, and Purdue cashed in for 23 points.

Iowa’s search for its first Big Ten triumph will come on Jan. 6, when the Hawkeyes take on Nebraska at 4:30 p.m. in Carver-Hawkeye.