Purdue/Ball State basketball defend Indiana turf
photos by: Anthony Harper/Excel H Sports/Indiana Sports Network
On Saturday, December 17th, 2022, the first ever IndyClassic was held at Gainbridge Fieldhouse witnessed by over 9,200 basketball fans.
Both Ball State and Purdue recorded victories in front of the home crowd as the inept Indianapolis Colts were collapsing in Minnesota, to the Vikings and the Kansas Jayhawks were pummeling the Indiana Hoosiers in Lawrence, Kansas.
Let’s first start with Michael Lewis’ Cardinals, the Cards posted an 83 to 69 victory over the Illinois State Redbirds.
Lewis’ Cards are now seven (7) and four (4) and were led by five players in double figures led by Jaylin Sanders 24 while both, Jarron Coleman and Damarius Jacobs posted 16 points apiece. McKey Pearson added thirteen and Payton Sparks twelve.
Photo by: Anthony Harper/Excel H Sports/Indiana Sports Network
Photo by: Anthony Harper/Excel H Sports/Indiana Sports Network
Coleman led the Cards with seven assists while Sparks would pull down six boards.
Photo by: Anthony Harper/Excel H Sports/Indiana Sports Network
Ball State would shoot 56.4% for the game (31 of 55) while Illinois State would shoot 41.8%.
Illinois State was led by Malachi Poindexter’s 14 points.
In game two, the Purdue Boilermakers (#2 Excel H Sports poll) would fend off a persistent Davidson squad 69 to 61.
Purdue would start the game off with a bang as the Boilers jumped out to a nine (9) point lead before Davidson would score.
Davidson hung tough all game long as the Boilers would open up seven-point, eight-point margins just to see Davidson cut the lead back to three- or four-point margin.
Once again, Zach Edey was dominant as he put up 29 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Boilers.
Photo by: Anthony Harper/Excel H Sports/Indiana Sports Network
Caleb Furst had a huge second half after only securing one rebound the first half to go with zero points. In the second half Furst would record a double-double and end the game with 12 points and thirteen boards.
Photo by: Anthony Harper/Excel H Sports/Indiana Sports Network
The guard play of freshmen, Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer was once again a learning experience at the collegiate level, though Smith scored 10 points and secured twelve boards while Loyer would add 14 points. The biggest gain from the game were they (Loyer and Smith) committed only one turnover and handed out seven assists.
Photo by: Anthony Harper/Excel H Sports/Indiana Sports Network
The Boilers would access seventeen offensive rebounds in the game which led to 19 second chance points.
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