Big Ten Basketball: Takeaways from Indiana’s win against No. 4 Purdue

Indiana beat their rival Purdue for the first time in five years. The Hoosiers beat the boilermakers behind Rob Phinisee, lack of turnovers, and great defense. 

The Indiana Hoosiers defeated the Purdue boilermakers 68-65 on Thursday. The Hoosiers were without Trayce Jackson Davis for most of the game, as he had foul trouble. Jackson Davis ended up playing only 11 minutes. He started getting into foul trouble early in the first half.

Once he got into foul trouble, he did not play for the rest of the first half. Midway through the second half, Jackson Davis again got into foul trouble. Davis did enter the game again with around three minutes left. The All-American did make two crucial free throws that made it a three-point game with around 9 seconds left. This was the biggest contribution Davis had in this game.

One player that did have a huge contribution to the victory was Rob Phinesse had 20 points on 8 of 13 shooting from the floor.  Phinisee came up huge in a victory where Indiana needed scoring. Phinisee was able to shoot very well from three in this match-up. The senior shot 4 of 7 from three.  Phinisee was able to get an open three off-ball screen.  The senior missed the shot, but coach Woodson still had confidence in him to take the final shot. Woodson had confidence for him to have the final shot as the next play. The game-winning three came off a similar play with Race Thompson as the screener.

Lack of turnovers

Indiana was also able to limit their turnovers in tonight’s victory.  The Hoosiers only had three turnovers in tonight’s victory. Indiana averages 14 turnovers on the season. Turnovers have been a huge issue for the Hoosiers this season. Another player that came up huge in tonight’s victory was Xavier Johnson.  Johnson ended up 18 points on 7 on 17 shooting from the floor. Johnson got his points by driving to the basket. The boilermaker’s interior defense in this game was not very good in this match-up.

Indiana’s big defensive performance

Indiana’s defense in tonight’s victory was huge. The Hoosiers were able to stop the Boilermakers from scoring for periods of time. The Boilermakers were not able to score for 5 minutes near the end of the first half.  This was due to Indiana’s tough defense. Often Purdue had to use all of the shot clocks to get a good shot off. Even then the shots, they took were not very good. On the season, Purdue averages 86 points per game. In the game against Indiana, Purdue scored 65 points.

The only player that Indiana could not stop was Jaden Ivey. Ivey scored 21 points on 7 of 16 shooting from the floor. Although the Hoosiers could not stop Ivey from having a good game, overall Indiana did well.

A player that Indiana did stop was Trevion Williams. Williams only had two points in the game. This is especially impressive because Indiana did not have Jackson-Davis for most of the game.  This is very impressive considering Williams is averaging 13 points per game on the year. Indiana’s defensive performance was huge in the victory.

This victory was huge towards Indiana’s tournament hopes. This was their best win of the season. Indiana’s next game is against Michigan on SunTop