Purdue beats Indiana in ugly game
By TYLER SMITH (@TylerSmith_ISL)
ISL Editor
BLOOMINGTON — One of the greatest rivalries in sports completed another chapter on Tuesday night in Bloomington. Purdue and Indiana used to play lots of low-scoring games back in the 20’s and 30’s, but nobody expected to see a similar score to those days in 2019. In the end, Purdue came out on top by a final score of 48-46.
The Boilers and Hoosiers have been trending in opposite directions, which led many fans/experts to believe this would be a one-sided contest. But in a rivalry game, throw the previous stats out the window.
Carson Edwards went 4-for-24 and 0-for-10 from 3 in this game. Juwan Morgan and Romeo Langford combined to shoot 5-for-20 and 2-for-10 from deep. Purdue shot 31.7% for the game, and still managed to out-shoot the Hoosiers, who finished the game shooting a putrid 27.3%.
Purdue’s Matt Haarms was getting ridiculed throughout the game by the Hoosier fans. He received a technical foul at one point and was getting booed every time he touched the ball. In the closing seconds, it was Haarms that had the final laugh. His tip-in gave Purdue the lead and the victory. In three career games against Indiana, Haarms has made 11-of-14 shots.
“It was a hard-fought game,” said Hoosiers Coach Archie Miller. “It’s probably as physical of a basketball game that I’ve ever been a part of. Both teams played extremely hard on the defensive end. At the end of the day, they made the winning play. Give them credit. I thought our team played well enough to win the game.”
Despite the loss, (Indiana’s 11th loss in their last 12 games), Coach Miller was at least pleased with the team’s effort and energy level. “Proud of our effort level. Proud of our togetherness. That’s the one thing we can take from this game. The team that took the floor tonight had a great disposition, and that’s the thing that needs to stay. Clearly we played a very good team tonight. Our team competed at a great level. We just have to stay with what we talked about the last 48 hours. The sting is there, but the disposition and mentality has to stay with what we had tonight.”
For Purdue, the win improved their record in conference play to 12-3. They are tied atop the Big Ten with Michigan and Michigan State.
“We’ve struggled offensively in several games, but defensively, we’ve been able to grind it out,” said Purdue Coach Matt Painter. “Two months ago, we couldn’t have done that. Our defense wasn’t as good. We found a way today. Part of finding a way is being fortunate and getting some breaks.
Both coaches commented on their star players after the game.
Coach Miller on Romeo Langford- “People underestimate how hard other teams work to keep him from doing what he wants to do. He played really hard for us tonight. He drew 7 fouls. He grabbed rebounds. He’s a gamer. No one understands more than him how important he is to the team.”
Coach Painter on Carson Edwards- “He never really got into a rhythm. You have to give Indiana credit. But he’s our guy. He’s got to let the game come to him. He’s got in those ruts before where he starts games wanting to kill right away. All great scorers go through periods like this. But he’s our guy, and you’re always going to come back to him.”
Langford finished with 14 points and went 9-for-10 from the foul line. He didn’t play the first 5 minutes of the 2nd half after getting sick, and also fought through a bloody lip. It was a gutsy performance for Langford, but he didn’t take a single shot in the 2nd half- something that just can’t happen. Indiana didn’t score in the final 3:48 of the game after taking a four point lead.
The Boilers have an excellent chance to win another Big Ten Championship. Their remaining schedule looks like this: @Nebraska, Illinois, Ohio St., @Minnesota, and @Northwestern.
For Indiana, things don’t get much easier from here. Their next three opponents are against ranked teams- @Iowa, Wisconsin, and Michigan State. At this point, they’ll have to win two of those three games to even approach the bubble conversation again.
