(WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.) — No. 5 Purdue (24-5 | 13-5) hosted No. 17 Indiana (20-9 | 11-7) for a big rematch of two of the best in the nation. The second meeting between these two teams this season after Indiana took the first game in Bloomington winning 79-74.
To say the 17,000 filled wall to wall in Mackey Arena was a factor would be an understatement. The basketball state showed up with full support to a place that Purdue has won 13 times this season and lost just once. For Indiana, it’s been a long lived drought with winning in Mackey Arena losing the last seven straight matchups in West Lafayette.
It would be five minutes of Purdue’s electric play, to force Mike Woodson to take the first timeout of the game leading 13-6.
After the timeout the battle in the paint began with two of the biggest players in the state of Indiana. Zach Edey made a statement on the scoreboard scoring six points out of the timeout. Trayce Jackson-Davis would have zero with most of his energy being used trying to keep Edey under control 19-18.
In a game guided by talented upperclassmen, Indiana freshman Jalen Hood-Schifino was the first to break into double figures starting off with 10 of the Hoosiers points.
The Boilermakers controlled the paint, outscoring the Hoosiers 18-8 through 13 minutes of play. As well as displaying the best rebounding the nation has seen all year with corralling 18 boards leaving just 9 for the Hoosiers 28-23.
Breaking under five minutes the two teams would stand even at 30 with Purdue having the only lead as high as seven.
The Boilermakers had the final possession and in one of many fashions this season hit a buzzer beater three pointer to put an exclamation mark on the half. Brandon Newman pump faked and took a breath to drill the straight away three for Purdue to take a 38-34 lead into the locker room.
Half one finished with both goliaths having two completely different games. Trayce Jackson-Davis had 0 points with 4 rebounds and the Zach Edey formula was working with 13 points and 8 rebounds.
Purdue had great help from the free throw line shooting 12-17, and claiming more rebounds than Indiana 26-11.
The Hoosiers’ Jalen Hood-Schifino kept Indiana relevant, scoring an impressive 23 points in the first half.
Though it would take the Hoosiers 23 game minutes to take their first lead of the game. The Hoosier’s Trey Galloway dropped in 8 points on the 10-0 run out of the halftime break.
Second half struggles began to snowball for the Boilermakers allowing a 10 point Hoosier lead 53-43
The gaps between Indiana and Purdue closed quickly with points in the paint surpassing Purdue being outscored 28-26 in the second leading 65-52.
Purdue kept owning the free throw line to the 6:30 mark but still were not catching any stride from the first half. The final five minutes had the Boilermakers scrambling to get the ball in the bottom of the net to catch the Hoosiers but there was nothing stopping Indiana.
The Hoosiers did not miss a beat on anything the Boilermakers gave them in the second half. They were able to build up the largest lead of the game with a 13 point difference.
Purdue in the second half struggled shooting the ball at a low 27% for the entire half. With all the draw of Trayce Jackson-Davis the basket was open all day for Indiana’s Jalen Hood-Schifino scoring a new career high 35 points.
The Edey and Davis matchup was all to Edey, outscoring Davis 26 to 10. Two of the best in this rivalry to showcase their leadership in two different ways with Indiana getting the best of Purdue in the end.
BIG PERFORMANCES: Zach Edey (26 Pts, 16 Rbs, 3 As), Fletcher Loyer (14 Pts, 5 Rbs, 1 As), Braden Smith (6 Pts, 8 Rbs, 5 As)
UP NEXT: March is right around the corner as the regular season is coming to a close. If Purdue were to have defeated Indiana, it would have clinched a share of the Big Ten regular season title. The Boilermakers will have one more road and home game this week as they travel to take on Wisconsin on Thursday, and return to Mackey Arena next Sunday to host Illinois. Tip off from Wisconsin is at 9:00PM.
