The 220th installment of the Purdue/Indiana rivalry lived up to all the hype Friday night, one that eventually went the Boilermakers’ way, 81-76. The back-and-forth contest saw 15 lead changes, six in just the final four minutes, and was not decided until the final seconds.
With the loss, Indiana fell to 14-8 overall and under .500 (5-6) in Big 10 games. Purdue improved to 17-5 in all games, and their 9-2 mark in conference battles is good for sole possession of second place, one full game behind league-leading Michigan State.
The result pleased the partisan fans at Mackey Arena, who mimicked their players on the court with a “Blackout” theme, but the many twists and turns along the way gave those Boiler backers no easy feelings until the final buzzer.
Both teams scored easy baskets with their first possession, and throughout the remainder of the opening half, both Purdue and Indiana ripped the nets with high frequency. Each shot better than 50% from the field in the first twenty minutes: Purdue made half of their shots, and Indiana made 55%.
Boilermaker star guard Braden Smith made his first four shots, the last was a jumper that gave Purdue the lead 15-13 at the 13:13 mark. IU guard Luke Goode sparked his team off the bench to stay close, connecting for eleven points thanks to three shots from distance. His last three-point bucket of the half gave the Hoosiers their biggest lead of seven, 36-29, with 3:46 to go before halftime.
Purdue head coach Matt Painter recognized Goode’s impact, and his own team’s lack of toughness in the first half, following the game.
Said Painter: “I thought they manhandled us a couple times at the rim, I thought they were quicker to the ball than we were. That was first and foremost. I thought Luke Goode had a big hand in the first half — he got away from us a couple times. I thought he was a big player in that first half.”
Indiana used the offensive glass to keep the pressure on Purdue; the Hoosiers grabbed seven offensive rebounds in the opening stanza, directly leading to eleven second-chance points. Overall in the half, Indiana vastly out-rebounded Purdue 19-12, which led to their 41-37 lead at the break.
Boilermakers junior forward Trey Kaufman-Renn got his team right back in the game all by himself to open the second half. He scored seven straight points to punctuate a Purdue 10-0 run, giving the Boilers a 44-41 lead just 76 seconds in.
The lead grew to 48-42 on a Smith layup with 17:08 left, prompting a Hoosier timeout to stem the tide. Indiana was able to keep Purdue within their sights, and after Fletcher Loyer made two free throws with 12:21 remaining to give Purdue its largest lead of the game at 58-51, the Hoosiers stormed to an 11-0 run of their own, taking a 63-58 lead with just 7:36 to go in the game.
Indiana forward Mackenzie Mgbako, who was stellar all night long and led all scorers with 25 points, scored seven in that stretch. The lead went to 67-61, thanks to a Trey Galloway layup with 5:32 left, culminating in a 16-3 run. However, the home-standing Boilermakers still had some fight left in them.
Purdue stormed back, tying the game with a Smith jumper at the 4:00 mark. Boiler Gicarri Harris stole the ball from Hoosier Anthony Leal on Indiana’s next possession, and Harris’ two free throws made it 69-67 with 3:40 to go.
Mgbako’s contested corner three forged Indiana back on top 70-69 with just under three minutes remaining, and after C.J. Cox hit one of two free throws to put Purdue up 75-72 with 1:37 to go, Galloway made two clutch baskets, the last putting the Hoosiers up 76-75 with just 29 seconds left in the game.
After Painter called a timeout to set up his offense, the ball found Kaufman-Renn in the paint just below the free-throw line. He faced up Hoosier center Oumar Ballo, did a spin move to his right, and dropped a 15-foot jump hook shot over Ballo with 11.9 seconds left to give Purdue a one-point lead.
Although the result of the play pleased Painter, it was not exactly how he drew it up.
“That wasn’t clean,” said Painter. “We came off of it and they stick us and they play good defense right there. We wanted to go back, have a throw in and have a deep post-up and that wasn’t (there). We were very fortunate there. Trey makes a great play, but give Indiana credit, they pushed him out and made him make a tough 15-foot jump hook.
Indiana elected not to call a timeout, and Myles Rice’s shot was defended brilliantly by Harris, giving Purdue’s Loyer the ball. Indiana head coach Mike Woodson explained his strategy revolving around the final seconds.
“Couldn’t get his (Rice’s attention, and about the time he got where he was going – I thought he got fouled on the play, but they didn’t make the call. And I don’t think that was the difference in the game – the difference in the game was the 20 turnovers that we had. I thought that was huge. And on the road, you can’t turn it over like that, and they made us pay for it. They had 26 points off our turnovers. But for the most part I thought our guys competed, did a hell of a job, but it’s about winning in this league.”
Loyer was fouled and calmly sunk two free throws with three seconds remaining for a 79-76 lead. Another Indiana turnover, their 20th of the game, allowed Kaufman-Renn to salt the game away with two free throws of his own, and the Boilermakers escaped with a thrilling 81-76 win.
Purdue’s thrilling victory over Indiana on Friday night extended their lead in the series to 128-92, but it took all of the 40 minutes to secure it. Smith led the Boilermakers with 24 points and seven assists, and Kaufman-Renn added 23 points, hitting on ten of his 13 shots.
Both teams hit the road and play on Tuesday night; Purdue travels to Iowa to take on the Hawkeyes at 7 pm ET, while the Hoosiers go to Madison to play the Wisconsin Badgers at 9 pm ET.
If you love sports, download Stadium Rant from the Apple App Store and join one of the fastest-growing social sports communities. Be sure to follow us on socials too — you can find all our profiles on our Linktree.
