
No. 17 Indiana won the regular-season sweep over its rival in the state with a road win of 79-71 over the No.5 ranked Boilermakers. The first meeting was dominated by senior center Trayce Jackson Davis-Davis, butย Jalen hood-Schifino led the Hoosiers’ attack with a career-high 35-point total.
As the Boilermakers led 38 to 34 at the break, the freshman guard scored 23 of Indiana’s 34 first-half points. It was Indiana’s turn in the second half as the Hoosiers (21-9, 11-7) built a substantial lead thanks to contributions from many sources.
Jackson-Davis is a potential All-American, but he did not score until 11:44 left in the second half. Indiana’s surge made it all the more remarkable. Miller Kopp, and Trey Galloway both reached double figures. Jackson-Davis finally reached the top with a thunderous transition dunk, putting the Hoosiers ahead with 73-62 and 2:56 left.
Purdue’s star centerย Zach Edeyย had 26 points, but the Boilermakers only made 5 of 23 attempts to score from 3-point range.
Purdue lost its fourth game in the last six games after a 22-1 start. The Boilermakers dropped to 24-5 (13-5) entering the final week. Indiana is still in contention to win a double-bye at the Big Ten Tournament.
It was the first time since 1999 that both Purdue and Indiana had been ranked at Mackey Arena.ย With the win, IU ended a seven-game losing streak at the venue.
Hood-Schifino is a rising star for the Hoosiers, and what we saw of him against Purdue shows that IU’s ceiling could be very high come early April. Purdue’s freshman guards Braden Smith and Foster Loyer have generally been consistently good this season, but Saturday was a completely different story.
Hood-Schifino scored 14 of his 24 field goal attempts, while Loyer and Smith combined made 6 of 23. Hood-Schifino’s growth into one of the top Big Ten players has helped the Hoosiers recover from a 1-4 start in the Big ten this season.
Hood-Schifino will almost certainly be leaving Indiana after the season for the NBA Draft. Schifino is the best point guard that Indiana has had since Yogi Ferrell. If Schifino plays consistently from here on out the Hoosiers will become very dangerous.
Purdue is built around Edey, but the Boilermakers excel when they get substantive contributions from other players. Saturday’s shooting was no exception, as 14 shots were missed by players other than Edey. Although Smith and Loyer have outperformed their modest recruiting rankings, the Boilermakers are starting to see the flaws of an approach that heavily relies on freshmen guards beginning to show.
The Purdue Boilermakers are known as a team that chokes every year come March Madness time, and that looks like the way this season will end up also. Indiana did not need a huge game from Davis to win, Purdue could not win a game where they only get ten points from Edey.
Galloway and Kopp are the two guys that put the Hoosiers over the top in Purdue on Saturday night, as both players were aggressive and shot the ball well. TJD had an off night, but the play of Schifino, Kopp and Galloway was the difference in this game. On the offensive end, they played smart and within themselves. On defense they switched and closed out well on three-point shots. If these three continue to play as they did at Mackey on Saturday night, the Hoosiers would be a threat to go deep when the madness arrives.
According to CBS Sports Bracketology Expert Jerry Palm, the Boilermakers are still projected to be the No.1 seed. Purdue must close strong to keep a hold on that number-one seed.
Purdue will close at Wisconsin on Thursday and at home against Illinois on Sunday. Northwestern still has a shot at winning the Big Ten title with remaining games, at Maryland, Rutgers and Penn State to become the league champion. Purdue will still control its destiny and be the league champion if they win its final two games. However, a doomsday scenario is possible where Northwestern becomes the sole champion if it finishes 3-0 and the Boilermakers win both of its remaining games.
The Hoosiers could get a share of the Big Ten title with wins at home over Iowa and Michigan and two Purdue losses.
Purdue was intent on minimizing the impact of Trayce Jackson-Davis in Saturdayโs rematch in West Lafayette.
For a half, it worked. Jackson-Davis didnโt score a point in the first half. Yet Indiana was right there with Purdue through 20 minutes.
Indiana, in the first win over Purdue, won by running the offense through TJD, and that is what most figured IU would do at Mackey. Instead, the Hoosiers slowly took control of the tempo by letting freshman point guard Jalen Hood-Schifino control the game. The Hoosiers won this game with a three-prong guard attack, and that allowed them to control the tempo. Once again, Purdue star Zac Edey got his but his alone was not enough to beat the Hoosiers. Purdue coach Matt Painter never solved the Indiana offense in the second half, and the Hoosiers rolled to a huge win.
Saturday’s win significantly boosts the NCAA tournament resume and its Big Ten tournament seeding prospects.
With two games remaining in the regular season, the victory lifted the Hoosiers to 11-7 in conference play.
If Indiana can win two victories at Assembly Hall in the next seven days, it will give the Hoosiers a double bye in the Chicago Big Ten conference tournament.
Purdue remains in control of the Big Ten regular-season title. However, Indiana’s win on Saturday prevented the Boilermakers from clinching a share.
In terms of NCAA tournament seeding, Indiana has now won three road games against tournament teams and has 11 wins that are in Quad 1 or 2. The Hoosiers are looking more like a three-seed right now, come March madness time.
The Hoosiers have proven twice this season that they are a better, deeper team than the Purdue Boilermakers. Indiana has more weapons and overall better players. With Schifino running the offense and Davis down low, the Hoosiers have a diversified attack and shooters like Galloway and Kopp that can kill you from deep. Purdue is the Zac Edey show, which will not be enough to make a run to the final four this season, as their guard play as of late has not been good.
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