Boilermakers Country

'I Messed up the Play': Jaden Ivey Drills Improvised Last-Second Shot for No. 6 Purdue Basketball

In a tie game with No. 16 Ohio State at Mackey Arena, the final shot of the game for Purdue was supposed to go to Zach Edey. But when Jaden Ivey botched the play, the star sophomore made up for it by taking the go-ahead attempt to lift the No. 6-ranked Boilermakers to an 81-78 win.

D.J. Fezler

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — With overtime looming, Purdue looked to get Zach Edey the basketball with a chance to win it in regulation against No. 16 Ohio State on Sunday at Mackey Arena.

But sophomore guard Jaden Ivey botched the play and went the wrong way as time ticked off the clock. The ball never found its way to Edey's hands underneath the basket. However, as Eric Hunter Jr. made space off a dribble, Ivey sprinted toward the senior guard and flashed his hands before rising up for a last-second shot attempt from the right wing.

The basketball — somehow, some way — found the bottom of the net with little to no time left, cementing an 81-78 victory for the No. 6-ranked Boilermakers.

"I messed up the play, actually. So it was my fault," Ivey said. "I saw (Eric) drive to the baseline, and with the seconds that were left, I just tried to go get the ball. It got in my hands, and I knew I was going to take it."

Ivey, who finished the game shooting just 8-of-20 from the field, scored his third 3-pointer of the afternoon. He had a team-high 21 points, and his final shot lifted Purdue to victory after the team gave away a 20-point lead in the second half.

"That play was in such shambles, I couldn't even tell what was happening," Edey said with a smile. "I feel like if we would have run it right, I probably could've gotten it. But he made a play, so I can't really complain."

In his second year with the program, Ivey is no stranger to late-game shots, specifically those that happen to put Ohio State away for good. Just over a year ago, as a freshman, Ivey hit a 3-pointer to lift the Boilermakers over the Buckeyes on the road.

At the time, it was a career-high 15 points from Ivey that erased an 11-point deficit. Fast forward to this season, his shot was to prevent Ohio State from roaring back and stealing a matchup in West Lafayette.

And even with leading the team in scoring after a game winner, Ivey remained critical of himself.

"Last year was a little bit different because we had to fight back," Ivey said. "This year, we let them back in the game. Obviously, we aren't proud of that, and it's probably my fault. I made some defensive mistakes, missed some easy buckets. I'm not proud of my performance, to be honest. But we got the win, that's the most important thing."

Ivey, who posted a team-high 32 minutes on the floor, was coming off the bench for the second game in a row after returning from a hip flexor injury that kept him out of a home contest against Northwestern.

He was 3-6 from the 3-point line while notching three rebounds, two assists and a block to go along with his game-high scoring total.

Just two weeks ago, fighting through injury, Ivey came up short on a buzzer-beater attempt against rival Indiana at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Back then, he dipped his head in disappointment when the shot didn't fall. This time, the eruption of home-crowd cheers rained down for Purdue after Ivey iced the game.

And despite the play falling apart from the beginning, coach Matt Painter didn't flinch when his star sophomore won the game for the Boilermakers.

"What I try to get them to do is do their job, do what you're supposed to, play as hard as you can and live with the results when you do those things," Painter said. "But when you don't do some of those things, then it just eats at you.

"So that's why I didn't flinch, because we didn't do what we were supposed to do, and normally the basketball gods are not with you at that time. We were very lucky that they were with us, because Ohio State was great."

Ivey didn't do what he was supposed to do originally. But when he set his mind on making up for it by taking the final shot, he did just that. And Purdue will happily live with that result. 

Stories Related to Purdue Basketball

  • PURDUE STAVES OFF OHIO STATE COMEBACK: Purdue sophomore guard Jaden Ivey hit a three-pointer in the final second as the No. 6 Boilermakers held off a rally from No. 16 Ohio State, winning 81–78. The Boilermakers let a 20-point second half lead slip away before Ivey's heroics. CLICK HERE 
  • PAINTER 2ND IN CAREER WINS AT PURDUE: Purdue’s Matt Painter, in his 17th season with the program, earned his 372nd victory as a Big Ten coach in an 83–73 win over Iowa on the road Thursday. He now ranks second in the program's career wins list and fifth all-time among Big Ten coaches. 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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