Seniors Lead No. 8 Purdue Basketball to 69-67 Victory Over Indiana
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — You couldn’t have scripted a better ending for the Purdue seniors, who closed the regular season with their final game inside Mackey Arena.
Eric Hunter Jr., Sasha Stefanovic and Trevion Williams rallied the No. 8-ranked Boilermakers in a tight matchup, scoring the team’s final 17 points in front of a raucous home crowd. Their combined effort fueled a 69-67 win against Indiana on Saturday.
“You’ve probably seen that a couple of times this year in different games,” Hunter said. “But of course, it’s a little bigger of a scale like today. I’m proud of these guys for stepping up.”
Hunter led the way with 17 points after shooting 7-12 from the field. He knocked down a trio of 3-pointers and also led the team with five assists. Stefanovic scored 15 and Williams added eight in the win.
Purdue led by as many as 13 points in the first half of play. Hunter fueled a 12-0 run, capped off by drilling a second-chance 3-pointer to give the team a 26-14 lead with 8:15 left before the break.
The Boilermakers registered seven offensive rebounds in the period, amounting to eight second-chance points. Hunter was 4-6 from the field, including a pair of 3-pointers, and scored 10 points to lead all scorers before halftime.
But the Boilermakers struggled to stay ahead. The team shot just 39% from the field in the first 20 minutes, and Indiana brought the game to within four points on the shoulders of a 9-0 run.
Xavier Johnson scored all eight of his first-half points in that span. Race Thompson led the Hoosiers with nine points before heading into the locker room. Purdue led 33-29 at halftime after scoring just one basket in the final three minutes of the first half.
The Boilermakers also suffered from costly turnovers. The team coughed the ball up 11 times throughout the game, and the Hoosiers capitalized with 15 points off those opportunities.
Purdue failed to score in the span of nearly four minutes in the second half, turning the ball over five times in six offensive possessions. Indiana roared back with under 11 minutes left to play in the game.
“We didn’t execute, we had some turnovers here and there,” Stefanovic said. “Just maintaining the course and understanding that when we do things the right way, we’re usually pretty successful.”
Johnson scored eight straight points after a 3-pointer from Miller Kopp, igniting an 11-0 run to take the lead. Kopp scored 14 for the Hoosiers and was 4-6 from beyond the arc while Johnson led the team with 18 points.
But when Purdue needed a spark, its seniors came up with the biggest plays down the stretch. Down by four points with 6:52 on the clock, Sasha Stefanovic jumpstarted a 7-0 run to take back the advantage.
Stefanovic was 3-6 from the 3-point line, but none were bigger than his deep shot to take the lead with 5:10 remaining. The Boilermakers held on by a thin margin the rest of the way.
“Knowing it’s against your rival, final game here, just trying to do everything you can to get a win,” Stefanovic said after the game. “I think that was the biggest thing for all of us.”
And in the final minutes, Williams made key plays to seal the victory. After starting the game with just two points in the first half and having three turnovers, the senior center scored the team's final four points.
But Williams had the game-winning plays on the defensive end of the floor. As Indiana looked for a last-second chance at a comeback, he blocked a shot underneath the basket and stole the ball on an inbound pass in the same possession.
“It was good to get back in the flow of things and make big-time stops,” Williams said. “I was struggling early on, I was trying to find my rhythm. Every game is not going to be your game, but I stayed with it — kept my head.”
Purdue held on as Johnson couldn't connect on a half-court heave in the final seconds for Indiana. The team finished the regular season with a 25-6 overall record and was 14-6 in conference play.
The Big Ten Tournament is scheduled to begin Wednesday, March 5, at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
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- PURDUE, INDIANA LIVE BLOG: No. 8 Purdue basketball will tipped off for its final regular-season matchup of the season in a rematch with rival Indiana. The team also celebrated its Senior Day. CLICK HERE
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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.