The Indiana Hoosiers took down #1 Excel H Sports Ranked Purdue Boilermakers 79-74 Saturday Afternoon in a sold out and loud Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. It is the first time since 2013 that Indiana has beaten a top ranked team since 2013 when IU took down top ranked Michigan 81-73 on February 2, 2013, at Home. The Hoosiers have won eight times against top ranked team in 25 tries. This is fourth time since 2001 the Hoosiers have beaten a top ranked team at home. This was 17th time the rival programs have meet when they have been in ranked in the top 25 with the Hoosiers winning 12 times. IU has beaten Purdue the last two times home and the Boilermakers lead the all-time series 125-91.
Indiana is 16-7 overall and 7-5 in the Big Ten while Purdue is 22-2 overall and 11-2 in the Big Ten. The Hoosiers have another big home game on Tuesday Night when they host the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at 6:30 pm. Rutgers has owned the Hoosiers the last six meetings dating back to 2020 including a 63-48 win on December 3, 2022, in Piscataway. Indiana last beat the Scarlet Knights in Bloomington on March 10, 2019, 89-73. While Indiana Head Coach Mike Woodson is happy for this win, he knows what is ahead for his team. “It means a lot, but we have Rutgers up next, and they have had their way with us, and this is behind us. I told the guys they can celebrate this for an hour, and we have to get ready for Rutgers” Woodson said after the game.
Trayce Jackson-Davis led IU with 25 points on 9-19 from the field and 7-9 form the free throw line and scored 18 in the first half. The Hoosier big man pulled down 7 rebounds, 5 blocks and 1 steal. Jalen Hood Schifino scored 16 points including a layup right at the end of the game to seal the win for the Hoosiers. Trey Galloway added 11 points. Miller Kopp had 6 points and made history by knocking down his 200th three pointer of his college career between Northwestern and Indiana as hit the milestone three pointer with 7:31 left in the first half. The Hoosiers finished the game shooting 52 percent from the field for 56%, 4-10 from three-point range for 40 % and 15-18 from the free throw line for 83%, Indiana pulled down 22 rebounds, dished 11 assists, 11 steals, 5 blocks and committed 8 turnovers. “I think you saw two great teams going at it, we play hard and fed of the crowd and we didn’t play great in the second half, but we got the win. Trayce Jackson Davis Said.
Purdue was led by 7-4 Zach Edey who finished with 33 points and 18 rebounds. Indiana did as good of a job they could on the big man all game as Edey had 15 points at half and sparked Purdue by scoring the first 6 points of the second half and eight of the first 10 points. Coach Woodson knew the challenge his team was facing coming in. “We did not have a lot of answers for Zach Edey in the second half, we made the plays we needed down the stretch” Woodson Said. Freshman Fletcher Loyer finished with 12 points. Purdue finished shooting 50% from the field on 29-57, 6-18 from the three-point range for 33% and 10-17 from the field from the free throw line for 58 percent. Purdue pulled down 38 rebounds, dish out 15 assists, 4 steals, 3 blocks and had 16 turnovers.
In the first half Race Thompson scored first bucket of the game as Caleb Furst knocked down a three pointer to give Purdue a 3-2 lead. Jalen Hood-Schifino gave the Hoosiers a 5-4 lead and Purdue retook the lead 5-4. Indiana followed up with 5-0 run and Purdue cut the lead to win on two occasions trailing 9-8 and 11-10 with 16:19 left in the first half. The Hoosiers went on 10-0 run to make it 21-10 with 11:57 left in the first half and Purdue got within 8 points the rest of the first half. The Hoosiers took a 50-35 lead into locker room as Indiana was 18-29 from the field for 62%, 4-7 from the free throw line for 57% and 10-12 from the free throw line for 83% while committing just 5 turnovers. Purdue was 12-25 from the field for 48%, 2-7 from the three-point line for 28% and 9-15 from the free throw line for 60% and committed 11 turnovers.
Purdue went to work inside with Edey scoring 18 of his 33 points in the second half sparking a Purdue run but the Boilers never took the lead cutting it down to one point 71-70 with 2:02 left to go in the game. Indiana outscored Purdue 8-4 as the Hoosiers hit two free throws from Trey Galloway and Race Thompson and Jalen Hood-Schifino got a layup with 25 seconds left and dunk with two seconds left in seal the win for the Hoosiers.
The student’s had been in line since 9 am Saturday morning moving into Gladstein Fieldhouse due to the cold temperatures, but some camped out overnight to make sure they had the best seats in the student section. Coach Woodson knows what the home crowd can bring to a big game like this and for him since he played from 1976-1980 until now some things never change. “I have seen this for 40 some years and the fan base as not waivered one bit and they were great”.
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