Indiana men’s basketball halted its four-game losing streak with a comfortable win against Rutgers on Jan. 23. But the Hoosiers still lacked a win over a ranked opponent.
In a rivalry contest with No. 12 Purdue, the Cream and Crimson earned their first ranked win of the season, fending off a late comeback effort from the Boilermakers to finish a 72-67 victory.
In the early minutes, both teams came out firing. Through the first four minutes of action, the Hoosiers and the Boilermakers combined to shoot 7 for 9 from the field. Junior guard Nick Dorn scored the Hoosiers’ first points with a long 2-point jump shot, and redshirt senior forward Tucker DeVries knocked down a 3-pointer on his first shot attempt of the game.
After the quick start, both offenses slowed as the first half went on. Wilkerson grabbed his own missed free throw and scored a layup to tie the game at 11 points before senior forward Reed Bailey sank three free throws across two trips to the line to put the Hoosiers up by three with 12 minutes to play in the first half.
As the back half of the opening frame began, Indiana and Purdue continued to trade runs. Boilermakers senior forward Trey Kaufman-Renn spun around DeVries to score a floater, senior guard Fletcher Loyer drilled a 3-pointer and sophomore guard C.J. Cox connected on a mid-range jump shot to give Purdue a 23-19 lead and force Indiana head coach Darian DeVries to call a timeout.
Upon their return, the Cream and Crimson took over. Junior guard Jasai Miles sank his first 3-pointer since Nov. 12 to cap off a 13-0 Indiana run that included longballs from Wilkerson and Tucker DeVries, as well as two layups from Bailey. Purdue senior guard Braden Smith briefly quieted the crowd with a mid-range jumper, but Wilkerson quickly struck back with a fastbreak layup, leading Boilermakers head coach Matt Painter to call a timeout with 2:42 remaining in the half.
DeVries and Wilkerson each added another 3-pointer in the final minutes of the half as Indiana took a 40-29 lead into the break. Wilkerson led Indiana with 11 points at halftime, and the Hoosiers held Purdue’s NCAA leader in assists Smith without a dime in the first 20 minutes of action.
Coming out of the break, the Hoosiers picked up right where they left off. Redshirt senior guard Conor Enright knocked down a 3-pointer on Indiana’s first possession, and Wilkerson hit a mid-range jump shot to extend the lead to 14 points through two minutes of the second half.
But a 7-0 Purdue run engineered by Cox, Kaufman-Renn and Smith brought the Boilermakers back within six points just three minutes later. However, the Cream and Crimson countered with buckets from Wilkerson and Dorn to push the lead back to 10 points by the under-12 media timeout.
Two more longballs from Dorn and a pair of free throws from Miles enabled the Hoosiers to push their lead back to 14 with just under 10 minutes left in the game. But seven straight Boilermaker points kept Purdue in striking distance as the Cream and Crimson led 59-52 with eight minutes remaining.
After the runs, both offenses stalled. Only free throws contributed to the score for the next two minutes. Freshman forward Trent Sisley’s trip to the line brought Indiana’s lead back to 10 points, but a 3-pointer from Smith kept the Boilermakers within seven.
With a missed free throw from Bailey and a costly turnover from Wilkerson, Purdue had a chance to make it a one-possession game in the final minutes. DeVries came down with a contested rebound and was fouled, but he missed Indiana’s second front end of a one and one. As the Hoosiers’ lead narrowed to just four points, Darian DeVries called a timeout.
Wilkerson immediately turned it over and Indiana allowed Smith to drive to the rim for an easy layup to cut the lead to two, but Enright drilled a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession to go back up five with just over a minute left to play.
After another missed free throw from DeVries, Kaufman-Renn scored again to bring the Boilermakers back within three points, but Purdue was forced to foul Enright and send Indiana to the free throw line with 23 seconds remaining.
Enright sank both free throws, and Purdue scored quickly to keep the deficit to a single possession. The Boilermakers fouled Wilkerson off the inbound, and the Ashdown, Arkansas, native sank both shots to seal the 72-67 victory.
Wilkerson led the team with 19 points, while Dorn added 18 of his own on four 3-pointers. The Cream and Crimson will now head to the West Coast for a two-game stretch against UCLA and USC that begins Saturday.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames and jamesdm@iu.edu) and Nathan Shriberg (@NShriberg and naashri@iu.edu) and columnist Kasey Watkins (@KaseyWatki8773 and kaslwatk@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana men’s basketball season.
