In the only rivalry that matters, the Purdue Boilermakers extended their winning streak over Indiana to eight games, 81-69, in Bloomington on Thursday night.
The only longer winning streak over the Hoosiers, nine games, dates back from 1929 to ‘35 when the late great John Wooden played at Purdue.
Purdue took command early on the Hoosiers’ home floor when freshman forward Mason Gillis scored on a putback three minutes into the game to give Purdue (9-5) a 7-6 lead. The Boilers kept that lead through the rest of the game and led by as much as 12.
Purdue opened up their lead with the help of improved three-point shooting. In the first half, Purdue connected on seven of nine shots from three-point range. Against Michigan State in the Boilers dramatic win over the Spartans, the Boilers missed 22 of their 24 three-point attempts.
“When you face good defensive teams, which Michigan State is and obviously Indiana is, you don’t get a lot of cracks at them,” said coach Matt Painter following the game, “but when you do you have to be ready to shoot the ball, and i think our guys stepped up and made shots tonight.”
Purdue finished the game with 11 three-pointers and six different Boilermakers contributing. Junior Eric Hunter Jr. had the most with three in Purdue’s balanced attack.
Indiana (8-6) relied on scoring inside. Sophomore forward Trayce Jackson-Davis scored a game high 25 points with 18 of his 25 from inside the paint. But Jackson-Davis didn’t much help from his teammates in the scoring column.
Purdue forward Trevion Williams, a junior, notched his fourth double-double of the season with 22 points and ten rebounds. Freshman guard Jaden Ivey had a career-high with 13 points and fellow freshman Brandon Newman chipped in 12, including 6 of 6 from the free throw line.
Sunday’s game against Penn State will mark the first home game at Mackey Arena in 24 days. The Boilers split their string of four road games, their longest stretch on the road in the Big Ten since the 1959-60 season.
