Boilermakers Country

Breakdown: How No. 4 Purdue Failed to Close Out Against Rival Indiana in Final Minute

No. 4 Purdue led Indiana by two points with a minute left to play Thursday night at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The Boilermakers had opportunities to close out the Hoosiers, but the team was unable to put the game away in the waning seconds.

D.J. Fezler

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — After facing a nine-point deficit at halftime, No. 4-ranked Purdue trailed Indiana for 17 minutes in the second half. On the back of sophomore guard Jaden Ivey's 21 points, the Boilermakers tied the game 63-63 on a jumper with 3:36 left in the game. 

It was his last bucket of the night, but sophomore forward Mason Gillis would take the team's first lead of the second half with 1:08 to play. Despite leading 65-63, Purdue let opportunities slip away in the waning seconds. 

The team missed its last three shots, and the Hoosiers went on to win 68-65 thanks to a three-pointer from point guard Rob Phinisee and a pair of late free-throws by forward Trayce Jackson-Davis. 

Phinisee, a Lafayette native who had never beaten Purdue during his four years at Indiana, finished the game with a career-high 20 points. It was Indiana's first victory over the Boilermakers since Feb. 20, 2016, snapping a nine-game streak for the Boilermakers. 

Here's how it happened in the final minute: 

0:59 Remaining, Purdue Leads 65-63 

After Gillis' basket, Indiana takes the ball up the court and looks to tie the game as guard Xavier Johnson gets a chance under the rim. He finished the game as the Hoosiers' second-leading scorer with 18 points, but he couldn't get to 20 as junior guard Isaiah Thompson blocked his layup attempt. 

Gillis came up with a defensive rebound in a scramble for the ball. Thompson brought the ball past half court before Purdue coach Matt Painter called a team timeout, still holding on to a two-point lead. 

0:50 Remaining, Purdue Leads 65-63

Purdue had a prime opportunity to extend its lead late in the game. Senior guard Sasha Stefanovic passed the ball inside for senior forward Trevion Williams to work against Jackson-Davis. 

Williams took two dribbles, gave a shoulder fake and had space on his quick shot attempt, but the ball went wide left of the basket. Gillis hustled for the basketball, kept his feet inbounds and tried to pass the ball back to Williams under the rim for a second-chance play. 

The ball was deflected off Williams' fingers, and possession went to the Hoosiers. Had he caught the ball, there wasn't a player between him and the basket, and Jackson-Davis would have had to reach over the top for a potential block. 

0:33 Remaining, Purdue Leads 65-63

Indiana drew up a double screen for Phinisee to get an open look from the 3-point line on its next possession, but the shot was short and was deflected off the rim. Williams and fellow senior Eric Hunter Jr. both reached for the rebound with just one hand, and the ball shot out of bounds off their fingertips. 

"That rebound there at the end, that's ours," Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "We have a five footer the play before to go up four. And then they come down and they miss, we have to rebound but we punch it out. You've gotta make that play, and if you don't, you gotta make the next one." 

With possession retained by the Hoosiers, they executed an inbounds play to none other than Phinisee. Stefanovic was the defender on the play, and he went underneath a screen by Indiana froward Race Thompson, giving Phinisee enough space to hit his fourth 3-pointer of the game. 

The corner shot gave Indiana a 66-65 lead with just under 17 seconds left in the game. 

"Big-time shot, I give him credit," Painter said. 

Thompson ran the ball across the half court line before Purdue called its final timeout. 

0:12 Remaining, Purdue Trails 66-65 

Ivey passes the ball inbounds to Williams, who hands it right back. Ivey drives down the right side of the lane with Jackson-Davis on his hip and throws up a shot high over the 6-foot-9 forward. 

"We wanted him to get there though," Painter said. "He didn't quite get there, so just trying to turn that corner and come out of it. We could've went back and tried to run something different.

"One thing about playing through the post, you can run stuff and you can get it, but sometimes you can't get it there. In those tight, low-clock type plays, now you can get stuck. ... He was doing a good job of getting to the rim, he just had to turn the corner just a little bit more to get there." 

The basketball didn't make contact with the backboard or the rim, and Jackson-Davis snatched the rebound and raced up the court before being fouled by Stefanovic. 

Jackson-Davis hit on both his free-throw attempts to make it a three-point lead for the Hoosiers. He finished the game with just four points in 11 minutes of action. 

0:05 Remaining, Purdue Trails 68-65 

With the final play of the game, Ivey took the baseline pass and had to dart to his spot in under five seconds. Against Indiana freshman Trey Galloway, he took a deep, step-back 3-pointer from the right wing, and the basketball nearly rolled into the rim off the glass. 

Instead, it rimmed out at the buzzer and Indiana earned its first victory over Purdue in six years, 68-65. The Boilermakers are now 0-3 this season when held under 70 points. And for the first time all year, the team was held under one point per possession. 

Related stories on Purdue basketball

  • PURDUE DROPS ROAD MATCHUP AGAINST INDIANA: Purdue basketball was unable to put away Indiana on the road Thursday night at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Sophomore guard Jaden Ivey scored a team-high 21 points in the loss, but 20 points from Rob Phinisee propelled the Hoosiers to victory. CLICK HERE 
  • PURDUE, INDIANA LIVE BLOG: Purdue basketball was on the road for a rivalry matchup with Indiana. The Boilermakers were looking to win their 10th straight game against the Hoosiers, who entered the game with an undefeated record at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. CLICK HERE
  • PURDUE HANDS ILLINOIS FIRST BIG TEN LOSS: Senior guard Sasha Stefanovic scored made five 3-pointers and scored 22 points while leading Purdue to a double-overtime victory over Illinois on the road. Sophomore center Zach Edey notched 20 points and didn't turn the ball over in the win. CLICK HERE
  • EDEY, WILLIAMS OUTPLAY COCKBURN: Purdue sophomore center Zach Edey scored 20 points in the team's 96-88 double-overtime victory over Illinois. He and senior forward Trevion Williams held Kofi Cockburn to 10 points and five rebounds before the Fighting Illini center fouled out. CLICK HERE
  • TREVION WILLIAMS ON WHY HE CAME BACK: Purdue forward Trevion Williams joined the Sasha Live! last week and senior spoke about his experiences testing the NBA waters and his decision to return to a Boilermakers program that he believes is building something special this season. CLICK HERE

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D.J. Fezler
D.J. FEZLER

D.J. Fezler is a staff writer for BoilermakersCountry.com. Hailing from The Region, he is from Cedar Lake in Northwest Indiana and has spent the last two years covering Purdue football and basketball. 

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