Purdue Dismantles Rival Indiana on Wintry Basketball Day Indiana
By Keith Carrell (@BoilerColts)
ISL Purdue Columnist
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A widespread winter storm couldn’t keep the in-state rivalry between Purdue and #25 Indiana from tipping off, but there were questions as to whether it would keep fans away from Mackey Arena. The fans responded by showing up early, loud, and ready to aid the home team with all their might.
“I think we’re doing a really good job right now of just getting back to that toughness and really wanting to hit people, and wanting to be the team that hits first.”
Purdue Center, Matt Haarms
The Boilermakers set the tone early, using dribble penetration to get to the rim and quickly raced out to an eleven-to-two lead. Grady Eifert capped that early onslaught with a three, before Indiana began to settle in on defense. That intensified defense lulled Purdue into poor shot selection, opening the door for the Hoosiers to respond.
Indiana would use the next five minutes to steadily cut away at Purdue’s lead before Robert Phinisee scored a quick six points to briefly give Indiana an 18-17 advantage. Juwan Morgan would chip in six of his own as Indiana clung to a 24-21 lead with just over five minutes remaining in the half. But that gasp for air was short lived as the Boilers turned up the heat and had a raucous Purdue fan base guiding the way.
Purdue seemingly remembered they could use the interior to score and were nearly unstoppable to end the first half, reeling off a twelve-to-two run to take a 33-26 lead into the break — all of those twelve points were either in the paint or from the free throw line. A first half that Purdue won in nearly every statistical category, Purdue had more points, rebounds (18-16), assists (8-5), fewer turnovers (4-8), and better from the charity stripe (6/7-1/5). The one area Indiana led, three point percentage, was ugly for both teams; Purdue made only one of their nine attempts while Indiana made three of eleven. Fouls were also a challenge for Indiana as Romeo Langford, Damezi Anderson, and Phinisee each had two while only Williams had two for Purdue. Langford and Williams each picked up a pair within the first three minutes and sat most of the first half.
As dominant as Purdue was in the opening stanza, the three point percentage must have been eating away at the Boilers during the break, because it was a point of emphasis to start the second half. Ryan Cline and Carsen Edwards combined to sink three triples before the first media timeout to push Purdue’s lead to twelve. The success behind the arc then opened up the interior game for Matt Haarms who used a couple of slip screens for open dunks sandwiching another three from Edwards as the lead ballooned to 51-34 with 13:45 left to play.
“I thought the most important stretch, obviously, was the end of that first half and the start of the second half; being able to make those threes and get off to a good start to get (Indiana) on their heels.”
Purdue Head Coach, Matt Painter
By that point, with Mackey Arena rocking, Indiana had no answers left as the Boilers cruised to a 70-55 victory. The win was as much a group effort by Purdue as it was a disastrous showing for the Hoosiers. Purdue had seven players score at least five points, led by Edwards with 20 while the Hoosiers only had four with more than four points and only two in double figures: Justin Smith (15 points, 7-8 FG) and Morgan (14 points, 6-10 FG). Purdue received some unexpected offense from Nojel Eastern who finished with a double-double (10 points — all in the first half, 10 rebounds) as he frequently slashed to the rim for easy buckets.
The crowd seemed to be a major factor in this game as well, especially for the inexperienced Langford who along with getting in early foul trouble, never looked comfortable in the game. The highly touted freshman finished with four points (2-10 FG, 0-3 three, 3 turnovers) and missed all four of his free throw attempts, as the Paint Crew’s “over-rated” chants appeared to impact his form. Langford wasn’t alone with struggles from the line for the Hoosiers, though, as the team made only one of their first eight attempts before finishing seven-of-18. Also hindering Indiana’s comeback chances was Purdue’s stringent defense which allowed only one made three on nine attempts in the second half.
Indiana had issues dealing with Purdue’s defense throughout the game as they turned the ball over 14 times and the usually solid offense couldn’t get any facet going consistently. Entering the game, Indiana had been averaging 51% from the field, 35% from three, and 76 points a game. Against Purdue, the Hoosiers made 43% (22-51) of their field goals, 20% (4-20) of their threes, and netted only 55 points.
The result was an Indiana team that had been reeling, losing their fourth straight, looking completely outmatched by Purdue, but the Hoosiers will have an opportunity to avenge the loss in Bloomington on February 19th. Purdue, on the other hand, continues to look stronger each game as they have now won six of their last seven and sit at fourth in the Big Ten with a five-and-two conference record (the two losses on the road at Michigan and Michigan State).
“I have all the respect for (Indiana Head Coach Archie Miller), he’s a great coach,” Painter said after the game. He then added that he feels the Hoosiers will turn their season around sooner than later: “They have good players, good guys, and they’ll get it going again; they’ll have a good stretch.”
Mackey Arena was rocking, Purdue is rolling, and it will be interesting to see how this young Boilermaker team continues to navigate the remainder of the season. A few weeks ago, the prospects of making the NCAA tournament looked rather bleak as they held an eight-and-five record through non-conference (and two Big Ten games), but the team was very inexperienced (graduated four starters from last season) and had one of the toughest non-conference slates in the country. Those prospects appear brighter now, but it will still be an uphill climb as they proceed through conference play. The Hoosiers have another tough week upcoming with a game at Northwestern before hosting #2 Michigan on Friday night.
Next up (for Purdue):
Away: Ohio State on Wednesday, 1/23 (7 pm, BTN)
Home: #6 Michigan State on Sunday, 1/27 (1 pm, CBS)
Quick Hits:
It was the 208th meeting of the Indiana-Purdue rivlary, with Purdue now leads 119-89, having won four straight against the Hoosiers… Purdue virtually man-handled the Hoosiers statistically: outrebounded by one (34), five more assists (17), three fewer turnovers (11), one more block (7), three more steals (10), and shot better from all three levels… Zach McRoberts had a bit of hope for Indiana as he scored for the first time since November 27th (10 straight scoreless games) with a couple of late buckets… The eleven turnovers ended Purdue’s streak of eight straight with no more than ten… Purdue has now won ten straight home games against in-state foes, the last loss to Indiana (Jan 30, 2013)… McRoberts (the younger brother of former Pacer Josh) and Cline were teammates at Carmel High School… Phinisee got a large spattering of boos during team intros as the local product spurned Purdue for Indiana… Purdue will host two straight nationally televised games (Indiana on FOX, Michigan State on CBS)… The leading scorer for Indiana (Smith – 15) entered the game averaging eight points a game, but went 7-8 from the floor… An illustrative moment midway through the second half, Langford had his shot blocked by Aaron Wheeler at the rim… The rivalry tilt was part of “Basketball Day Indiana” with a number of big games at every level across the state, highlighted by Purdue against Indiana and capped by the Pacers against the Dallas Mavericks.
