West Lafayette INDIANA – All of the recent history in the Indiana-Purdue rivalry has pointed towards Purdue beating Indiana but recent trends maybe gave Indiana a shot. The Hoosiers came into this game, winners of 3 of their past 4 games and in position to basically secure an at-large bid. Meanwhile, Purdue had lost four straight games, with their last win coming against Indiana on February 8th. Despite how all the recent results pointing towards Indiana having the momentum to beat Purdue, the Boilermakers once again prevailed to win their seventh straight game against Indiana.
This game was anything but a great basketball game as neither team found their rhythm on offense. The two teams combined to go 7-41 from three, but thanks to 19 points from Trevion Williams and 17 points from Eric Hunter Jr. the Boilermakers were able to come away with the win. With one minute left in the first half, Purdue led 23-20 but a 13-0 run that went from that point to the 13:37 mark in the second half proved to be the difference. The Hoosiers struggled as a team, only shooting 25.4% from the field, Devonte Green had 11 to lead the Hoosiers in scoring.
With Purdue struggling coming into this game, the effort level had to be better for the Boilermakers to get the win. “I thought we played a little bit better today,” Purdue Head Coach Matt Painter said. “Obviously we didn’t shoot well. Sometimes people confuse the two, but I thought it was a good grind-it-out win even though it was pretty hard to watch.”
With this win, the Boilermakers move back above .500 at 15-14 overall. They will play at Iowa next Tuesday, with Senior Day coming the following Saturday when they play Rutgers. Indiana has a tough matchup set up as they play at Illinois on Sunday, with two home games to follow.
Bracketology Effect: With the win, Purdue moves into the next five out category in today’s Bracketology. They still have a ways to go to make the NCAA Tournament but they still have a chance. Indiana moves down from a projected 9 seed to a 10 seed in today’s Bracketology.
Betting Effect: Covered: Purdue -6 Under 130.5