Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Outduel Purdue, 66-63
12/14/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 14, 2002
Indianapolis, Ind. - In the house that is divided, rivalry reigns supreme. Saturday night in Indianapolis in front of 32,055 fans, Indiana and Purdue dueled in the RCA Dome for bragging rights and most importantly, for the win. In the non-conference matchup, the long-time and heated rivalry between the Hoosiers and Boilermakers grew to even greater proportions as Purdue looked to oust the sixth-ranked Hoosiers.In the end, the night belonged to the Hoosiers in more ways than one. IU won their eighth straight game, getting off to Indiana's best start since 1989-90 when IU began 10-0. But all Hoosier State basketball fans were treated to a great basketball game Saturday evening.
"It was a great atmosphere," Purdue head coach Gene Keady said. "It was a great evening for basketball for all the fans. I can't say anything negative about it."
At halftime, Purdue held the two-point advantage, 29-27. When the final buzzer sounded, IU held the three-point, 66-63 victory and a still unblemished record of 8-0. The Boilermakers fall to 4-2 on the season.
While offense and scoring characterized the Hoosiers through seven wins early in the 2002-03 season, Saturday night in the dome, defense dominated.
It was double trouble for Purdue as both George Leach and Jeff Newton recorded double-doubles. Newton had 16 points and 12 rebounds - all of them on the defensive end of the court and all 16 points were in the second half while 10 of the 12 boards came in the second stanza. Newton's double-double was his fifth-straight of the year. Leach added 11 points and 14 rebounds of his own en route to his second double-double of the season.
"I think this was the best defense we have seen all year," said Newton. "This was Big Ten basketball. We knew going in it was going to be our toughest game yet. You get in this atmosphere and anything can happen."
IU got off to an early lead on a Tom Coverdale layup and a Leach dunk. It took a three-pointer from Purdue's Willie Deane to pull within one. The first half continued with the Hoosiers scoring and the Boilermakers responding until the final seven minutes of the first half when Purdue took the small but critical lead.
Purdue's Deane and Brett Buscher hit consecutive three-pointers to take the 21-20 lead. IU was forced to play from behind the remainder of the half as A.J. Moye narrowly missed from beyond the three-point line but fought for his own rebound putting it back for two to bring the Hoosiers to within two points, 29-27, heading into the locker room.
Steady and even, IU came out of halftime with a renewed sense of rivalry, tying the game at 31-31.
The teams continued their highly-touted duel battling through the remainder of the game, within mere points of each other. Both teams demanded that the rival go for everything.
In one sweeping motion, freshman Bracey Wright followed a Kyle Hornsby miss from beyond the three-point line and put it up and in to give the Hoosiers a 46-45 lead with 8:07 remaining in the game. They would not play from behind for the remainder of the game.
But the contest still came down to the wire as Purdue's David Teague hit a three-pointer with four seconds remaining to put the score at 65-63. On the ensuing play, Wright was fouled and headed to the line, hitting his final free throw of the night to put the score at its final 66-63.
Wright ended with 13 points, the freshmans eighth-straight double-figure effort.
"I thought their defense was really aggressive tonight," said Wright. "It was a physical game, just like we expected. I knew coming in that it was going to be intense. The confidence that we have in our team is what is helping us win the close ones. Overall, I think we're playing pretty good right now."
The contest marks another in the year-long Titan Series, a contest that measures head-to-head competition between Indiana and Purdue. IU holds a 3.5 to 2.5 advantage in the series as both the Hoosiers and Boilers earned half a point tonight as Purdue won the women's game 53-51, just prior to the men's contest.
IU enjoys a week of rest before it takes on Kentucky, Dec. 21 at 5 p.m. in Freedom Hall in Louisville, Ky. The game will be televised nationally by CBS.
