1/20/2022 basketball Edit

After nine straight losses, Indiana finally beats Purdue

Kyler Staley • TheHoosier

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February 20th, 2016, Indiana would go onto beat Purdue 77–73 in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. For the next five years, Purdue handed Indiana loss after loss after loss.

Tonight, after nine straight losses, Indiana finally ended that streak with a 68-65 win over the fourth ranked Boilermakers.

"It's been a while since we beat Purdue, and they have a hell of a team," Indiana Head Coach Mike Woodson said . "They're well-coached. We battled from the beginning to the end until we got it done."

Recap of Indiana ending the 9 game losing streak to Purdue

Even a couple hours before the tipoff, you could tell that this game had a different vibe to it. It was special.

The hype and the electricity of the crowd throughout was so loud and electric, it was often hard to hear the whistles.

Hoosier Nation was out in full force today.

"Our fans tonight were just unbelievable. Dog gone, they were great." Woodson said.

The start of the game was not so hot for Indiana. Purdue was getting easy looks and the defense was not the defense that we have become familiar with from the Hoosiers.

Things took a turn for the worse when Trayce Jackson-Davis went to the bench with two fouls. It was a worse case scenario for Indiana. They had lost their best player and their most important counter to Purdue's elite frontcourt.

However, The second unit came in and stepped up in major way and were led by Rob Phinisee who exploded for 17 points in just only the first half.

"In the first half I felt like every time I shot the ball it was going to go in," said senior gaurd Rob Phinisee who dropped a career high 20 points. "Coach Woodson, from the jump he knew I struggled last year. He has been saying all the time that he's going to keep believing in me and keep instilling confidence in me. I played my heart out today, played with the heart on my sleeve tonight."

The second half the Hoosiers kept the fight going even when Jackson-Davis hit the bench early again picking up his 3rd foul.

Again, it was other guys stepping up in his absence like Race Thompson, Xavier Johnson, Trey Galloway, and others.

Purdue would battle back and at one point would take a 65-63 lead with less than a minuet left. But with a big 3PT shot from Phinisee and two huge, clutch freethrows from Jackson-Davis, Indiana finally secured the hard fought win.

"We just wanted to win the game, so I made the big shot." said Phinisee.

The fans stormed the court in celebration. It was an amazing sight to see. It just felt like big, collective sigh of relief.

This was without question the biggest win for Indiana this season, maybe of the last five years, balancing the scales of the in-state rivalry.

And what tops it all off, Mike Woodson got his win back after ending his playing career with a loss to the Boilermakers.

"It's all about these guys, these 17 guys that wear the uniform. It's not about me (Woodson), but any time you can beat Purdue -- and they feel the same about us, and it's been a while since we've beaten them -- it's special. Hell, I didn't dribble one ball or make one shot, man. It was those guys in that locker room that got it done. I couldn't be more proud of a team, boy. They played their hearts out tonight."