The Boilermakers felt it from beginning, scoring the first seven points. Indiana tried to answer countless times but fell short as Purdue topped IU for the fifth straight time, 72-61 in front of a capacity crowd at Assembly Hall.
Indiana fans brought it since yesterday in fact. Five junior girls camped outside of Assembly nearly 30 hours before tip-off. The fans were impressive Wednesday from the outset. It’s just too bad the basketball team didn’t play as inspired.
Purdue was led by the two steady seniors JaJuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore. Johnson remained poised in a hostile environment and hit two big jumpers to open the game, finishing just short of a double-double with 20 points and 9 rebounds. Moore was nearly perfect inside the three-point line shooting 6-7, but just 1-5 from downtown to finish with 17.
A big difference in the second half became officiating, as the game was called completely different. After just 13 combined first half fouls, 30 were called in the final 20 minutes. Now that’s a discrepancy. The Boilers were ice-cold from three in the second as well, knocking down just one of eleven attempts. And the visitors were haunted at the free throw line, 14-24.
“We showed some poise, even when we missed those free throws,” Purdue head coach Matt Painter said. “A lot of people would crumble when you miss free throws but we didn’t get down on ourselves. We showed a lot of poise with our veterans and they didn’t let themselves get rattled. There were a couple times where Indiana could have pushed the lead but we played our offense pretty well.”
Indiana wanted back in this game but never could grasp it. They turned it over 11 times, but allowed Purdue to score 18 points off turnovers.
Purdue never trailed and coasted down the stretch because IU couldn’t convert. The Hoosiers scored just 10 points in the final 8:40 due to missed layups, bringing the ball below their waste inside the lane, and fouling.
“Bottom line is do you get good shots, especially in the second half we did,” Tom Crean said. “We probably got more opportunities at the rim than we have in a long time. We didn’t complete it and they did.”
I enjoyed watching the play of former North Central standout Terone Johnson. Only a freshman, Johnson will be a big time player for the Boilers in future years. He scored nine points including three big threes off the bench.
Purdue now sits one game back behind Ohio State for the top spot of the conference. Things don’t get any easier for either team. Indiana returns to action Sunday at Ohio State, and Purdue travels to Michigan State.
Below is postgame video of Tom Crean, Jordan Hulls and Verdell Jones.