1/21/2022 basketball Edit

Quick Hitters: Takeaways from IU's win over Purdue

Alec Lasley • TheHoosier

Senior Writer

@allasley

Don't miss out on any of our exclusive football, basketball and recruiting coverage. Sign up with TheHoosier.com here.

Indiana ended its nine-game losing streak to Purdue on Thursday night with a 68-65 win.

The Hoosiers stay undefeated at home and have won against Purdue for the first time since 2016.

Rob Phinisee had a career-high 20 points, including a game-winner.

The Hoosiers are back in action on Sunday against Michigan.

Here are all of the main takeaways from Indiana's win over No. 4 Purdue.

Big Shot Rob: It was Rob Phinisee's third career game-winner and it came in arguably the biggest game of his career at Indiana. He was 1-of-8 in his past two games for just two total points and came out on fire. He had 17 of his 20 points in the first half and his lone make in the second was the game winner with 16.9 seconds left. Phinisee was 8-of-13 from the floor and 4-of-7 from three and had zero turnovers in 26 minutes.

Breaking a streak: It's now back-to-back streaks that Indiana has put to rest. First was the eight-game losing streak on the road and last night was nine in a row to Purdue. Mike Woodson has instilled a confidence in this team that it truly can do anything they want if they put their mind to it. With a weight lifted off of their shoulders, it could be a big finish to the season for Indiana. The first win against the Boilermakers since 2016 could go a long way in giving this team a spark to go on a big run in the Big Ten.

Michael Durr plays 'big': Durr played just 34 minutes total in the last seven games but on Thursday he played a season-high 24 minutes. He had four points, two steals and two blocks and played a terrific defensive game limiting Zach Edey to just 12 points. With Trayce Jackson-Davis out with foul trouble most of the night, Durr was going to play a huge role and did so tremendously. His energy and toughness is something Indiana lacked from a big man off of the bench in recent years.

Just 3 turnovers: Indiana has struggled with turnovers all season long but on Thursday it coughed up the ball just three times for the entire game. It won the turnover battle 12-3 and that resulted in 15 points off of turnovers and a 19-0 fast break points advantage. Indiana's point guard duo of Xavier Johnson and Rob Phinisee didn't turn it over in 58 total minutes played. In such a high-emotion, high-energy game, being calm and collected with the ball is a tremendous step forward for this team.

Xavier Johnson steps up: Johnson's energy and emotion can either be a great asset or another opponent on the floor. Off to a great start in the first half, Johnson used that energy and emotion for the good. He had 18 points -- 10 in the second half -- and was great defensively as well. He hit two 3's and made big plays on both ends of the floor.

Free-throw shooting: Indiana was in the bonus the remaining five minutes of the first half and was at the free-throw line for most of the game. But, finished just 14-of-24 from the line. After going 8-of-16 in the first half, IU really buckled down and went 6-of-8 in the second. Overall, the Hoosiers need to be better from the foul line in order to close out these games on a more consistent level.

Assembly Hall is back: Everyone talks about Assembly Hall being the best atmosphere in the country and in recent memory it struggled living up to that name. But on Thursday it was. The place was rocking like old times and that crowd played a huge role in lifting IU to a win. It was fired up and that fan base was ready to explode -- something it did by storming the court. There are still some things that need to happen to get there fully, but that moment could signify a huge turning point in that Indiana program.