Peak Assembly Hall is expected on Saturday afternoon when No. 1 Purdue comes to Bloomington.
It will be the first time the No. 1 ranked team has come to Indiana since 2017, and the first time ever a No. 1 ranked Purdue team has played at Bloomington.
It isn’t unprecedented for Indiana to knock off the top ranked team at Assembly Hall. The Hoosiers are 3-3 all-time vs. No. 1 in the building, and 3-5 overall against the top-ranked squad in Bloomington.
As you’d expect with games of this magnitude, each of the wins are etched in the memories of Hoosier fans everywhere.
THE WINS
February 2, 2013 – (3) Indiana 81 (1) Michigan 73
ESPN Gameday was on campus for this one. There were future NBA players everywhere including Glenn Robinson III, Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway Jr., Nik Stauskas, Mitch McGary and Caris Levert for Michigan; and Cody Zeller, Victor Oladipo and Yogi Ferrell for Indiana. This game was a big deal. It would end up being the first of two Indiana wins over Michigan which would all but ensure the Hoosiers an outright Big Ten title.
Burke and Hardaway would prove to be difficult to contain as they combined for 43 for the Wolverines. That was enough to keep Michigan in the game throughout. Indiana was able to pull away at the end with a great balanced effort including 19 from Zeller, 15 from Oladipo, and 14 from Ferrell and Christian Watford.
December 10, 2011 – (unranked) Indiana 73 (1) Kentucky 72
This game requires no introduction of course, and no description could do it justice in the eyes of Hoosier fans. This is a moment when every IU fan remembers exactly where they were. More than three years of suffering was ended with one shot, and no one can describe it better than Don Fischer:
Indiana needed to and was surprisingly able to win the rebounding battle in this one despite being a smaller and less athletic team.
Two statistics that people don’t often talk about with this game is the fact that Kentucky shot better than Indiana from the field — 56 percent to 43, and Indiana had two more turnovers in the game 18-16. Typically those statistics would predict a win for Kentucky. How did the Hoosiers win? 9-of-15 3-point shooting vs. 2-of-7 for Kentucky, and 14-of-17 free throw shooting for IU vs. 10-of-17 for UK.
January 7, 2001 – (unranked) Indiana 59 (1) Michigan State 58
Tom Izzo’s Michigan State Spartans were the defending national champions, undefeated, and on a 23-game winning streak. Indiana was only 9-6 on the season and in need of a big win to right the ship under first year head coach Mike Davis. The Hoosiers were a year away from doing big things, but on this day they did just enough behind 27 points from Kirk Haston including this amazing buzzer beater:
THE LOSSES
February 20, 1961 — No. 1 ranked Ohio State, the defending national champion and eventual 1961 national runner-up defeated IU 73-69 at the New Fieldhouse for their 26th straight win. Future IU head coach Bob Knight was a reserve on the team.
February 16, 1965 — No. 1 Michigan overcame a 7-point deficit in the final minute of regulation, and a 4-point deficit in the last 26 seconds of a first overtime period to defeat Indiana, 96-95. In the final season of the Van Arsdale twins, Michigan would go on to win the Big Ten.
November 30, 2005 — No. 1 ranked Duke came to Bloomington as part of the Big Ten / ACC Challenge. IU went on an 11-0 second half run, and took a 59-58 lead on a Marco Killingsworth dunk. But J.J. Redick was clutch down the stretch as Duke pulled away and won, 75-67.
What was the loudest moment ever at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall?
February 4, 2006 — No. 1 ranked UConn defeated No. 22 Indiana 88-80. Indiana rallied twice from double-digit deficits, but playing without D.J. White (foot), the Huskies were too much. Marshall Strickland led IU with 16 points.
November 29, 2017 — No. 1 ranked Duke came to IU again as part of the Big Ten / ACC Challenge, and again the Hoosiers appeared capable of an upset. Indiana took a 61-59 lead with 12 minutes left in the game, and it was close until the final two minutes when Duke went on a 17-4 run to win it 91-81.
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