Five takeaways from Indiana’s win against Purdue

Indiana improved to 16-11 and snapped a four-game home losing streak with a 73-58 win against Purdue on Sunday afternoon at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The IU win pushed Purdue’s losing streak to four games.

Here are five takeaways from the win against the Boilermakers:

Indiana bullied Purdue in the paint

Purdue’s interior defense has failed the Boilermakers throughout Big Ten play. With no legitimate post presence defensively and no shot blocking, the game plan to attack Purdue is clear: get the ball in the paint and go to the rim.

Indiana did just that on Sunday afternoon. The Hoosiers shot 24-for-35 on 2s (68.6 percent) in the rivalry win in Bloomington.

Indiana outscored Purdue 44-18 in the paint and the Hoosiers shot 15-for-17 on layups in the 15-point win. Through 17 conference games, Purdue allows conference opponents to shoot 58.8 percent on 2s, the worst mark in the Big Ten.

The frontcourt duo of Malik Reneau and Oumar Ballo, who had their minutes staggered for most of the afternoon, combined to shoot 12-for-14 from the field.

Purdue, meanwhile, could get little going in the paint. Indiana held the Boilermakers to a dismal 13-for-31 (41.9 percent) shooting performance inside the arc.

Indiana held Braden Smith in check

It was a tough afternoon for Braden Smith, a clearcut first-team All-Big Ten performer. And Indiana’s defense had a lot to do with it.

At one point in the second half, Smith was picked clean by Myles Rice, who collected the ball and drove for a layup to put the Hoosiers up 44-40. It was a pivotal play in Indiana’s 14-0 run that began at the 15:11 mark of the second half and lasted until the 9:54 mark when the Boilermakers broke a scoring drought of more than five minutes.

“I think it really all started with Myles and his ball pressure,” Trey Galloway said postgame. “Obviously, Braden (Smith), when he’s comfortable, he’s one of the best in the country. So you’ve got to make it tough on him and he really good a great job of that by setting the tone in the second half.”

Smith had an uncharacteristic stat line by the final buzzer: eight points, two rebounds, five assists and six turnovers. He shot only 2-for-8 from the field.

Five of Smith’s six turnovers came in the second half and helped fuel Indiana’s significant advantage in points off turnovers. The Boilermakers committed 11 second-half turnovers, leading to 19 points for Indiana.

It was Smith’s second straight game with six turnovers and fifth game this season with six turnovers.

Trey Galloway picked apart the Purdue defense

Fifth-year Indiana senior Trey Galloway played his best game of the season to date on Sunday afternoon.

The Culver Academies product shot 5-for-10 from the field, including a late 3-pointer that pushed IU’s lead to 14 points with 2:18 remaining, and finished with 15 points.

However, Galloway’s playmaking and facilitating were even more critical for Indiana.

He dished out nine assists and committed only two turnovers. Galloway didn’t come off the floor in the second half and played 38 minutes, the most of any IU player in the win.

It was Galloway’s second stellar performance against Purdue in his final season as a Hoosier. In IU’s narrow 81-76 loss to Purdue in West Lafayette, Galloway finished with 15 points and five assists.

Mike Woodson rode a shortened rotation to a dominant second half

After playing eight guys at least seven minutes in the first half, Mike Woodson barely went to the bench after halftime.

Rice, Luke Goode, Galloway and Anthony Leal played the entire second half as Reneau and Ballo rotated the minutes at the five. Each player made winning contributions as IU outscored Purdue by 27 over the final 20 minutes.

Leal had four points in the second half and added two steals and two blocked shots. Rice, along with his defense against Smith, scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half.

Goode had eight points in the second half, including a 3-pointer to get the Hoosiers within two at the 16:07 mark. Galloway scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half, while Ballo chipped in eight points and four rebounds in 11 second-half minutes. And Reneau, who surpassed the 1,000-point mark in his IU career, battled foul trouble and scored seven points in eight second-half minutes.

Mackenzie Mgbako, a starter for the entirety of his IU career, came off the bench to start the game and did not play at all in the second half. Freshman Bryson Tucker did not play at all.

“In the long run, you know, we can’t play those guys those many minutes,” Woodson said. “The rest of the way, still going to need guys to contribute off the bench.”

Indiana added a fourth quad one win

Despite a brutal 11-game stretch in which it finished 3-8, Indiana is still in the mix to make the 2025 NCAA tournament.

Sunday’s win significantly boosted IU’s tourney hopes, assuming the Hoosiers can build on it over the final four regular season games. The Hoosiers still have home games left against Penn State and Ohio State and a road trip to play Washington and Oregon.

The victory against the Boilermakers was Indiana’s fourth quad one win of the season. The Hoosiers will likely need to go 3-1 over the final four regular season games to feel good about their at-large tournament chances entering the Big Ten tournament.

Woodson, in his final season as Indiana’s coach, improved to 4-4 in head-to-head matchups against the Boilermakers.

“It’s always special when you beat Purdue,” Woodson explained. “You know, we had battles when I played here for Coach (Bob) Knight. I’ve had a history and a lot of experience dealing with Purdue over the years. The games are always tough, regardless of how much talent each team has.”

Category: Five Takeaways

Filed to: Purdue Boilermakers