Indiana defeated Purdue by a final score of 68-65 on Thursday evening at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind.
The Hoosiers led 37-28 at halftime and were led in the game by Rob Phinisee with 20 points. Race Thompson had a team-high nine rebounds.
IU (14-4, 5-3) will host Michigan at 3:30 p.m. Eastern on Sunday in Bloomington.
See also: Woodson, Phinisee, Johnson post-game
THREE KEYS TO THE GAME
1. Big Shot Rob. Rob Phinisee had a career high 20 points including the game-winner, a wing three-pointer. Fellow point guard Xavier Johnson had 18 as the pair combined for 38 of Indiana’s 68. Purdue’s strategy was to make the duo beat them, and they got it done. They shot 15-of-30 from the field and 6-of-11 from three. Phinisee also had four steals in the game. Neither Phinisee or Johnson had a turnover.
2. Overcoming Jackson-Davis fouls. Trayce Jackson-Davis only played 11 minutes but Indiana was able to win with a strong bench effort. The bench totaled 35 points. Beyond Phinisee, Trey Galloway had eight off the bench. Michael Durr didn’t stuff that stat sheet but provided a body defensively as IU limited Purdue big men Zach Edey and Trevion Williams to ten field goal attempts. The absence of Jackson-Davis helped Purdue have a 39-30 rebounding advantage and 10 second chance points, and opened driving lanes for Jaden Ivey without his shot-blocking presence.
3. Slowing Purdue from three, forcing first half turnovers. The Boilers made just 8-of-23 from three (34.8 percent). Four of those three-pointers came in the first four minutes of the second half. Sharpshooter Sasha Stefanovic was just 1-of-7 from three, and Jaden Ivey just 2-of-6. Several Indiana defenders were solid chasing shooters on the perimeter, including Miller Kopp, Trey Galloway, Phinisee and Johnson. In the first half Indiana forced 10 Purdue turnovers and scored 11 points off of them. Indiana had seven steals before the break. Purdue only had two turnovers in the second half.
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