Hoosiers overwhelmed by Purdue posts in 67-63 loss
By TYLER SMITH
ISL Editor
“Courtesy of IU Athletics/Mike Dickbernd.”
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — After getting blown out in West Lafayette three weeks ago, the Hoosiers were looking for revenge over their in-state rivals from Purdue on their home court.
Instead, the Boilermakers came into Assembly Hall and defeated Indiana 67-63. It was the Hoosiers’ first home conference loss of the season.
“At the end of the day, our fight didn’t match theirs,” Indiana guard Yogi Ferrell said. “We’ve got to match their intensity and fight a little harder.”
Seven-footer A.J. Hammons scored 20 points on 8-of-9 shooting, while 7-2 Isaac Haas scored 12 points and had nine rebounds for Purdue.
Ferrell led the Hoosiers with 21 points, to go along with five rebounds and four assists. With the Hoosiers trailing by two with 10 seconds remaining, Ferrell rushed a long 3-point attempt that missed. He wasn’t proud of the play, saying: “That was a bad shot. That’s what that was.”
The Hoosiers took a 20-12 lead in the first nine minutes. Over the following nine minutes, however, the pace really slowed down and Indiana only managed five points. The Hoosiers still took a 29-27 lead into halftime, but the pace favored Purdue.
The Boilers exploited their size advantage again. Behind their monster centers, the Boilers built a 55-47 lead with 7:25 to play in the game.
The Hoosiers finally got something going on offense after that, putting together an 11-3 run to tie the game at 58 with 2:40 left. Hammons continued his dominance with a big shot and two big free-throws late to seal the deal for Purdue.
“Shots that we normally make didn’t fall tonight,” Indiana coach Tom Crean said. “Not to take anything away from Purdue, but we missed a lot of wide open shots.”
Crean was also disappointed by the rebounding, despite the lack of size: “We can’t have just two rebounds from our front line. We missed a lot of blockouts. It’s one thing to give up points. It’s another thing to give up so many second-chance points.”
The free-throw line was also a huge storyline in this game. Purdue made 17 of 21 attempts, while Indiana made just 10 of 16. In close games, that will do it.
Troy Williams and James Blackmon Jr. both had 14 points for the Hoosiers. Hanner Mosquera-Perea was inserted back into the starting lineup for the first time in a while, and added 10 points.
With four games remaining in conference play, the Hoosiers sit at 8-6. They’re still in good shape for the NCAA tournament, but they missed a big opportunity to improve their standing in the both the conference and the seeding for the big dance.
“We’ve got to keep going,” Crean said. “We’re capable of better, and we’ve got to do better, and we will.”
