Indiana Falls to No. 16/18 Purdue, 69-64

Thursday, February 9

Bloomington, Ind.

7:00 PM

Indiana University

15-10, 5-7B1G

Purdue

20-5, 9-3B1G

Purdue

Indiana

2/9/2017 9:16:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The long awaited return of Indiana's biggest basketball rivalry between the Hoosiers and Boilermakers took place on Thursday night at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Indiana (15-10, 5-7) played a back-and-forth game with the Boilermakers (20-5, 9-3), but No. 16/18 Purdue's Vincent Edwards sparked a decisive 9-2 scoring run to win the contest, 69-64.

Sophomore Thomas Bryant led the Hoosiers from paint and perimeter with 23 points, going 3-for-4 from the arc. James Blackmon Jr. entered double figures with 11 points in his return from injury, followed by 8 points apiece from Josh Newkirk and Robert Johnson.

For the second time this season, IU evenly split the rebound battle with their opponent at 35-35. Newkirk led the effort on the glass with 8 rebounds—a career high—to go with two 3-pointers. Freddie McSwain Jr. and Zach McRoberts pulled down 5 boards each and combined to make all three of their field goal attempts. McSwain Jr.'s rebound total ties his career high.

Bryant outscored his Purdue counterpart, Caleb Swanigan, who reached 16 points while going 6-for-12 from the field. Edwards led the Boilermakers with 26 points, making 8-of-11 field attempts with a trio of 3-pointers.

Even the 4-point margin doesn't do justice to how hard the Hoosiers and Boilermakers battled. The rebound margin was dead even, and the Hoosiers scored one more point than Purdue on second-chance attempts. Each team swatted two shots, Purdue edged a 6-7 differential on team steals, and both IU and Purdue recorded 11 assists apiece. The game featured 10 lead changes, and neither side led by more than 7 points.

The Hoosiers took Purdue toe-to-toe in the first half and emerged with a halftime lead. Blackmon Jr. and Juwan Morgan led the haul with 7 points apiece, with Morgan going 3-for-4 from the field. Bryant got his night started with 6 points and his first of three 3-pointers.

With five minutes remaining in the half, Indiana uncorked a 9-0 run to take their first lead. Bryant tossed an and-one layup in transition and converted the ensuing free throw. Johnson buried his first 3-pointer to give IU a 27-26 lead, and the Hoosiers stretched the margin with McSwain Jr.'s free throw and a layup from Morgan. Purdue pulled within one point in the final minute of the half, before Johnson's and-one conversion gave Indiana a 36-32 lead at the break.

Bryant started the second half with 15 of Indiana's first 18 points. He opened with two 3-pointers, interrupted by a trey from Blackmon Jr. Bryant independently went 9-6 against Purdue to break a 47-47 tie at the midpoint. He finished the half with 17 of his 23 points, leading all scorers on the floor in that span.

Edwards dropped back-to-back layups to wrest the lead from Indiana with three minutes remaining to give Purdue the two-point lead. Swanigan's and-one with a minute left in the game capped the go-ahead scoring run.

The Hoosiers return to Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Sunday, February 12 for the back end of their home-and-home with the Michigan Wolverines. The game is set to tipoff at 1:00 p.m. ET and will air live on CBS. After Sunday's game, IU will close the regular season with 4-of-5 games away from home.