Oh no, not again. Indiana basketball suffers second straight lopsided defeat to No. 2 Purdue
WEST LAFAYETTE — Purdue swept the season-series against Indiana basketball on Saturday night at Mackey Arena in convincing fashion.
The sold out crowd started an "NIT" chant in the final minutes as No. 2 Purdue (22-2; 11-2) put the finishing touches on a 79-59 win over Indiana (14-10; 6-7 Big Ten).
Purdue center Zach Edey dominated with 26 points, 13 rebounds and four assists. He hit his first ever 3-pointer late in the game — only his second career attempt — and drew a rousing standing ovation.
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Indiana basketball gets no second half heroics against Purdue
Indiana came together for an inspired rally earlier in the week against Ohio State. The 18-point comeback victory on the road was a season highlight in the midst of an up-and-down year.
The Hoosiers fell behind in similar fashion at Purdue on Saturday, but they limped to the finish line after a disastrous start to the second half.
Indiana went 0-for-7 coming out of halftime, turned it over three times and committed five fouls. Malik Reneau committed three of them in the span of just 70 seconds. The team's leading scorer was forced to go to the bench with four fouls and was a non-factor. He fouled out with 7:09 to go — he had six points (3 of 11) and three turnovers — within a minute of checking back in the game.
Mike Woodson knew things were getting bad and burned an a rare early timeout only to see his team immediately turn it over.
Purdue didn't score a field goal for 3:15 during the stretch, but still added to its lead thanks to a 10-0 run that consistent largely of free throws from Edey.
The Boilermakers pushed the lead to 28 points in the half with a series of 3 pointers. Fletcher Loyer hit one from the team's logo at half court to beat the shot clock and Mason Gillis hit back-to-back 3-pointers midway through the half.
Indiana basketball faces severe drought at Mackey Arena
Trey Galloway tossed up a little alley-oop for Kel’el Ware to make it a one-possession game, 20-18, with 8:23 to go in the first half.
The Hoosiers didn’t score another field goal until Galloway dropped in a floater in the lane with 1:24 to go. They went 0 for 8 and turned it over five times during the stretch with Ware spending most of it on the bench with two fouls.
It was in stark contrast to how Indiana opened the game. The Hoosiers were 4 of 4 with field goals on their first four possessions. They had some of the best ball movement all season in the half court with a different player picking up an assist on each basket.
The Hoosiers shot 30.4% from the field after that and only two more assists on seven made field goals.
Edey was effective with 12 points and eight rebounds in the half, but Indiana had just as many issues trying to contain Braden Smith.
Smith had a game-high 15 points at halftime (7 of 11) with six rebounds and two steals. The sophomore’s biggest moment of the half came when hit Purdue’s first 3-pointer of the game with 5:49 to go after stealing the ball on the other end.
Purdue also got a pair of clutch 3-pointers in the half from Myles Colvin, who didn’t play in the team’s previous three games.
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Indiana basketball loses big to No. 2 Purdue
