Hoosiers beat Boilermakers for impressive road win

Could IU make the necessary stops it needed to finish off a Big Ten road win?
That question, which has remained unanswered for the better part of the past four seasons, found an answer Saturday night in West Lafayette.

Behind a career night from sophomore guard Victor Oladipo, No. 20 IU (18-6, 6-6) made eight straight defensive stops to complete a 78-61 win Saturday against Purdue (15-8, 5-5).

“It was great for these guys because we’ve done it (finishing a game),” IU Coach Tom Crean said. “We hadn’t done it as of late. Obviously we had some games that came down to the wire.”

Coming off a road loss at Michigan on Wednesday in which Crean wasn’t pleased with his starting lineup, Oladipo and junior forward Derek Elston were inserted into the first five.

Playing without senior guard Verdell Jones III (bruised shoulder), Oladipo shared a majority of the ball handling duties against the Boilermakers.

Oladipo scored a career-high 23 points, but his coach was most pleased with his play on the other end of the floor in helping hold Purdue guard Lewis Jackson to 1-of-10 shooting.

“He always has big (defensive) assignments,” Crean said. “He did an excellent job with that. He was in a position where he had to handle the ball a lot more, and I thought his decision making was very good.”

In IU’s previous five road games, Oladipo had scored a combined 24 points, but that lack of offensive production was nowhere to be found on Saturday.

“I had to step it up because Verdell’s out,” Oladipo said. “(Crean) told me before that he was going to put me in a lot of pick and rolls, so I had to be focused, stay patient and make the right decisions.”

The aggressiveness of Oladipo led to a 10-of-12 effort from the foul line as IU shot 35 free throws on the evening.

The 35 free throws were 22 more than the most IU had shot in its four previous road games as the Hoosiers were able to offset a poor shooting first half.

Purdue took an early 13-8 lead before IU went on a 13-0 run to seize control and take an 11-point halftime lead.

After shooting just 8-of-40 in the first half, Purdue made its comeback behind five second-half 3-pointers and cut the deficit to four on multiple occasions late in the game.

With just more than two minutes to play and IU leading 65-61, the Boilermakers had a chance to make it a one possession game when after a Jackson steal, sophomore guard Will Sheehey blocked a layup attempt by the Purdue senior, which helped start a 13-0 run to end the game for the Hoosiers.

“I was about to go up for the block and he came out of nowhere,” freshman forward Cody Zeller said of Sheehey’s block. “He got so high on that. I didn’t even see him coming, but that was a huge play for us, a four point swing.”

The win against Purdue marked the first against IU’s rival since 2008, and the Hoosiers are now 5-0 on the season when Oladipo scores at least 15 points.
“We’ve been struggling on the road lately, and this is a big one for us,” Oladipo said. “It’s against our rivals, and I’m just glad we came out the way we did. They’ve been pretty good the past couple of years. It’s a big win for us.”