At the Buzzer: Purdue 87, Indiana 66

  • 01/16/2024 8:56 pm in

Quick thoughts on an 87-66 loss to Purdue:

How it happened

Indiana hung with Purdue for about four minutes, but then it was all Boilermakers in the first half on Tuesday night in Assembly Hall. Purdue built its lead steadily throughout the half as Indiana couldn’t defend without fouling or make perimeter shots. Purdue shot 55 percent on 2s, 41.7 percent on 3s and scored 51 points on 1.41 points per possession in the opening half. Zach Edey scored 18 points in the first half, Lance Jones added 13 and Fletcher Loyer had 11. Indiana, meanwhile, managed just 29 points and shot a dreadful 2-for-12 on 3s. Boos rang down from the IU faithful in attendance as the team left the court for intermission trailing by 22.

Indiana was much better to start the second half, outscoring Purdue 17-7 before the first media timeout to trail 58-46 with 14:56 to play. Trey Galloway was big in that stretch, scoring eight points on a pair of 3s and a layup in transition. The Hoosiers got within nine on two occasions, but Purdue stretched it back to double figures each time and led 62-51 at the under-12 media timeout. The Hoosiers started to run out of gas as a 6-0 Purdue run stretched the lead to 17 at 73-56 with 7:25 to play. Indiana never challenged the rest of the way as the Hoosiers fell to 12-6 overall and 4-3 in Big Ten play.

Standout performer

Galloway led Indiana with 17 points in 36 minutes, and Mackenzie Mgbako, benched for most of the first half with two fouls, added 15 points in 25 minutes.

Statistics that stand out

Purdue won the battle in the paint, outscoring Indiana 38-30. And the Boilermakers also dominated from the free throw line, outscoring the Hoosiers 22-4 from the stripe.

Final IU individual statistics

Final tempo-free statistics

Assembly Call postgame show

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