Indiana Fights Off Purdue At Home

On Saturday, February 20, 2016, the Number 22 Ranked Indiana Hoosiers hosted the Number 17 Ranked Purdue Boilermakers in Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana. This was a very big match up as Indiana was in desperate need for a win to keep their lead heading into the final stretch of the Big Ten Title over the Maryland Terrapins and the Iowa Hawkeyes. With two seven-footers on the Boilermakers with A.J. Hammons and Isaac Haas, the home team knew that they would have a difficult time, especially in the paint. However, the Hoosiers knew they had a good home court advantage as they had won every single home game (15 games) coming into this one.
The first half, specifically the first two minutes, started off well for the Boilermakers, opening the game with two quick baskets. However, right before the clock hit 18 minutes left in the half, Indiana's best player, Yogi Ferrell, did what he's done many games this season to get the game started for the Hoosiers, bury a three to make the home crowd explode with excitement. The next two minutes of the game were a little less exciting for anyone as both teams were unable to make any of their shot attempts to keep the score stagnant. After, Indiana Hoosier Troy Williams was fouled by A.J. Hammons, however, the game flow started to pick up. After Williams made both of his shots at the charity stripe, the next two minutes were full of action until a T.V. timeout was called to give everyone a break. Following Williams' free throws, P.J. Thompson of the Boilermakers buried a three to stun the crowd, but they weren't silenced for long as Yogi Ferrell hit another jumper to bring the game to 9-7 in favor of Purdue. The Boilermakers responded with a layup by Isaac Haas, but Troy Williams responded with another three for the home team. The game was pretty back-and-forth after that for a few minutes until Juwan Morgan hit yet another three for the Hoosiers, giving them their first lead of the night. For the rest of the half, the Hoosiers absolutely dominated with intense defensive pressure along the perimeter and great three point shooting. They went into the halftime break with a 35-28 lead.
The second half started the same way it ended for the Purdue Boilermakers as right away, they turned the ball over. Turnovers were a crucial part in the game as the Hoosiers scored 20 points off of turnovers compared to the Boilermakers' 3 measly points. Purdue turned the ball over a total of 13 times to the only 4 turnovers committed by the Hoosiers. Through most of the half, the Hoosiers maintained a nice and comfortable lead. The Boilermakers were unable to continuously make baskets and whenever they did, they were unable to get a stop on the other end to try and cut away at the home team's lead. However, with 51 seconds left, A.J. Hammons made a layup to cut the lead to just five points. Just two seconds later, P.J. Thompson stole the ball from Yogi Ferrell and Dakota Mathias drained a three point jumper to cut the lead to just two points with 39 seconds left. With 7 seconds left, however, Ferrell made a layup to put the Hoosiers up 4 and end all the hopes for the Boilermakers in an exciting finish.