No. 5 Purdue Basketball Falls Flat in Second Half Against No. 17 Indiana
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — No. 5 Purdue basketball couldn’t the rhythm offensively to put No. 17 Indiana away, shooting just 34.9 percent from the field — including 5-of-23 from the 3-point line — in a disappointing 79-71 loss on Saturday night at Mackey Arena.
The Hoosiers swept the Boilermakers for the first time since the 2012-13 season, halting their hopes of clinching a share of a Big Ten regular-season title in the rivalry matchup.
Junior center Zach Edey led the team with 26 points on 8-of-17 shooting and went 10-of-14 from the free-throw line. But freshman guard Jalen Hood-Schifino was 14-of-24 from the field and registered 35 points to power Indiana past Purdue.
“He's tough, I don't know if we see him again,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "That's impressive. Very few people have rolled through here and done that, if anybody."
Purdue threw the first punch against Indiana thanks to the efforts of sophomore forward Caleb Furst on both ends of the floor. He registered four points, one rebound, one block and one steal in the first five minutes.
The Boilermakers scored the first six points of the game before the Hoosiers could respond and led by as many as seven before halftime. Edey led the way, nearly posting a double-double with 13 points and eight rebounds while freshman point guard Braden Smith and Furst each scored six.
Hood-Schifino was the only offense for Indiana for much of the first half, scoring 23 points in the opening period on 9-of-15 shooting.
"Everybody in this room knows he's a good player," Purdue junior guard Brandon Newman said. "He gets to his spots really well and plays at his own pace. You gotta make it tough for him every possession. No free looks, you gotta make him work for everything."
Indiana tied things up 30-30 as Hood-Schifino found senior forward Miller Kopp on the perimeter for a 3-pointer with 4:48 left to go in the half. The Hoosiers started 4-of-10 from deep, compared to just 2-of-8 for Purdue.
Defensively, the Boilermakers held Hoosiers senior big man Trayce Jackson-Davis scoreless ahead of the second half. He was 0-of-3 from the floor with three rebounds and picked up a pair of fouls in 16 minutes.
Despite holding a 26-11 rebound advantage and shooting 12-of-17 from the free-throw line before the break, Purdue went into the locker room leading 38-34. Before the buzzer sounded, Newman drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key to make it a four-point game.
The narrow advantage quickly evaporated for the Boilermakers in the opening minutes of the second half. After Furst opened the period with a layup, Hoosiers junior guard Trey Galloway ignited a 12-0 run.
“I think they just came out with more energy than us for that first five minutes of the second half, which is something that we try to harp onto ourselves a lot," Furst said. "And we didn't do it today.”
Galloway had eight points during the stretch, and Indiana took a 46-40 lead with 15:51 left to play before freshman guard Fletcher Loyer stopped the scoring surge with a runner inside the paint.
But Purdue couldn’t stop the bleeding in the second half, as Indiana ran away with the game by shooting 18-of-31 from the floor down the stretch. Galloway and Kopp each finished with 13 points and combined for six 3-pointers.
Loyer scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half, but the Boilermakers shot just 10-of-33 to end the game. Jackson-Davis registered his first points on free throw attempts with 11:44 in the contest and rattled off six points in the span of two minutes before picking up his fourth foul.
Jackson-Davis tallied 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting to go along with eight rebounds and seven assists.
"They didn't go to him a lot because Hood-Schifino was playing so well, and rightfully so," Painter said. "But if you told me that he would've had 10 and eight, I would think we would be sitting pretty.
"It kind of shows you how dangerous Indiana can be with that one-two combo there with Trayce Jackson-Davis and Jalen Hood-Schifino."
Edey was responsible for four of the team’s 10 baskets in the second half, and Purdue ended the game 22-of-33 at the foul line.
Maybe the biggest disparity between the two teams was their ability to knock down shots on the perimeter. The Boilermakers were 3-of-21 from the 3-point line before making two in garbage time. The Hoosiers went 7 for 15.
After Northwestern’s loss to Illinois on Thursday, Purdue had a chance to clinch at least a share of the conference championship with a win. Instead, it fell to 23-5 and 13-5 in Big Ten play, dropping four of its last six.
The team will look to turn things around when it hits the road on Thursday, March 2, for a game against Wisconsin at 9 p.m. ET inside the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis.
“I have ultimate confidence in my teammates. Always have, always will," Edey said. "It doesn't matter if we win or lose, it doesn't matter if shots go in or shots don't. It's a great group of guys that I'm surrounded with, and we're just going to figure it out.”
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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.