Photo By: Tony Vasquez of IndySportsDaily
Assembly Hall
Bloomington,IN
The Hoosiers came into the game with the in-state rivals, Purdue, on an absolute tear. The Hoosiers lead the B1G in conference play with a 3-0 record and an overall record of 13-2. Purdue has held their own this season with a 2-1 record in the B1G and an 11-4 record on the season. Thinking this would be a close game, the fans packed the iconic Assembly Hall.
The 1st half started off a little slow while both teams were feeling each other out. Hoosiers got in their groove a little quicker than the Boilermakers. IU held them to just 6 points in the 1st quarter. The 2 teams kept it tight throughout the 2nd quarter until IU’s Berger dished the ball to Patburg for the deep 3 point shot with 1:30 left in the half. Hoosiers closed out the half with a 28-16 lead over the Boilermakers. Ali Patburg led the Hoosiers with 11 points in the half while Brenna Wise cleaned up on the boards with 6. Harris led the Boilermakers with 6 points and 4 rebounds in the 1st half.
Hoosiers came out of the locker room revved up and ready. They knocked down their 1st two shots while purdue made mistakes on their 1st two possessions of the half. IU missed their 1st shot of the half but got the rebound and found an open Patburg mid range for another basket causing the Boilermakers to call a timeout to slow the Hoosier’s momentum. It didn’t help Purdue at all though. IU turned on the jets and continued to dominate the 3rd quarter, at one point leading by 22 points! Purdue slowed them down a little to end the 3rd. IU held a 19 point lead going into the 4th up 50-31.
Both teams were able to drop shots going into the last period. With 6 minutes left, Patburg stole a cookie from Purdue’s cookie jar then went coast to coast to finish with a contact layup. Hoosiers continued to move the ball around and with patience were finding open shots. They were able to push the lead up to 24 points with 3 minutes left. Hoosiers roll in this one winning 66-48.
The entire game you could tell this IU team is serious and ready to make a statement in the B1G. This time last year they were starting to make a name for themselves and just breaking into the top 25 which fell apart once Ali Patburg went down for a few games due to injury. Ali led this IU team with 18 points, 1 assists. Wise and Gulbe dominated the boards and really limited the amount of second chance points Purdue could have had. Wise finished with 6 rebounds on the night and Gulbe grabbed 8 boards and dropped 10 points. Purdue didn’t have an answer for the tough IU defense. Harris led the Boilermakers with 15 points and Oden finished with 5 rebounds. Hoosiers travel to Iowa for a 5pm game Sunday while Purdue head to Northwestern on Sunday for a 7pm tip-off.
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