INDIANAPOLIS — Thanks in large part to an unlikely hero, some timely defense and a big game from star Jaden Ivey, Purdue moves on to Saturday at the Big Ten Tournament, following Friday night's 69-61 win over Penn State.

The Boilermakers' first Big Ten Tournament win since 2018 sets up Saturday afternoon's semifinals meeting with Michigan State, who knocked out co-champion Wisconsin on Friday.

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As Micah Shrewsberry made his way through the handshake line following Purdue's hard-fought 69-61 Big Ten Tournament win over his Penn State team, the former Boilermaker assistant coach singled out Brandon Newman.

After starting much of last season, Newman hadn't played a meaningful minute since Jan. 10. The past several weeks, Shrewsberry has occasionally reached out to his former player to offer encouragement.

"I was like, 'Man, I was encouraging you and all that and you do that to me?" Shrewsberry said with his typical sharp wit. "Some friend you are."

Newman came off the bench to score 12 points on 4-of-4 shooting.

Not only did he play, and produce, but he was on the floor as Purdue closed out a close game.

"It was a great performance," Coach Matt Painter said. "We don't win that game without him."

Since his first day on the floor for Purdue, Newman's exuded ambition, his eagerness almost tangible. When Painter started him against Northwestern mid-season solely as a mechanism to try to bring the best out of the sophomore in an expanded role, his over-eagerness seemed real.

Tonight, when Trevion Williams found him on a kickout from the post, Newman calmly shook his man with a head fake, then nailed a pull-up jumper, and Gainbridge Fieldhouse erupted, one of those rare occasions where even the opposing sideline was rooting for a player.

"I was just taking what came to me," Newman said. "I hadn't played, and practice and games are two totally different things and you can definitely get out of rhythm if you're not playing every night.

"I was just taking what the defense was giving me and playing off my teammates, and that's really what the coaches' spiel has been to me. I'm upset it took me this long to figure it out, but everything happens for a reason."

That lesson, Newman said: Learning to play a role on a deep and good team.

"I want everything," Newman said. "I want to be a good player so bad that I kind of get in the way of myself when I'm trying too hard. I need to let the game come to me."

Newman was the story of the night for Purdue, both from basketball and human interest perspectives, but this was a hard-fought basketball game as well, an example of the Boilermakers grinding out a win in situations where they haven't always been able to do so.

Purdue led by 12 with 8:12 to play.

With 2:38 left, that lead was just one.

Penn State never scored again, closing the game by missing its final seven shots.

"I think it was just a team effort," guard Eric Hunter said of Purdue's defense in the final three minutes. "I think we all did our part. I think this is probably one of the better games we had just talking to each other on defense. Even though it was loud in there, this was probably the best we did as far as communicating with each other and trying to be on the same page as much as possible."

The game started off badly for Purdue, as Penn State jumped out to a 12-2 lead.

Painter suspected such a beginning might be in the offing, figuring a team with some momentum from playing the past two days might have a bit more energy than the team that hadn't.

Also, Penn State gave Purdue real problems defensively.

"How they can do different things on their third day from a defensive standpoint, I still don't know," Painter joked of Penn State, which ran variations of the box-and-one it used in State College, among other "junk defense," as Painter called it.

"I just asked (Shrewsberry) and I still don't understand what he said. But the ability to change and mix things up to try to keep us off balance was genius."

It wasn't until Ivey came out of the game, then rotated back in that he really took off, en route to a 17-point, seven-rebound game.

"I think I just had to settle into the game a little bit," Ivey said. "It just took me a little bit to get going. Once I settled into the game, I felt good."

With 40 seconds to play and Purdue up three, Ivey delivered a killshot of sorts, running down a long rebound, then attacking two defenders in transition for the basket that essentially sealed the game.

Zach Edey scored 15 points for Purdue.

It wasn't easy, nor did anyone realistically think it would be, but this was a good start to the postseason for Purdue, as Jaden Ivey played very well, Brandon Newman re-surfaced in a big way — though there are no guarantees from here in that sense — and the Boilermakers won the game at the end with defense.

Michigan State tomorrow. The Boilermakers owe them one after Purdue gave that game away in East Lansing.

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