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IOWA CITY, Iowa — Purdue's NCAA Tournament hopes had just about flat-lined.

Now, new life.

The Boilermakers' most consequential win of the season may have come Tuesday night at No. 18 Iowa, 77-68.

"It puts us in position to be in position," senior Evan Boudreaux said, echoing his coach's message.

Needing to win, the Boilermakers dominated.

Our breakdown.

No way this game would play out as the first meeting between these two teams — a 104-68 win in Mackey Arena — played out, right?

Not in Carver-Hawkeye Arena, where Iowa hadn't lost since November, taking down a series of ranked Big Ten teams since.

Right?

Wrong.

This was much the same game, minus the overwhelming margins.

Still, Purdue led by as many as 21 in the first half, and Iowa didn't get within single digits in the second half until Joe Wieskamp made an irrelevant layup with two seconds left.

The Boilermakers, again, laid waste to the Hawkeyes on the glass, their work on the offensive boards being a full-blown offensive. Purdue totaled 21 offensive rebounds, 20 second-chance points and a final margin of 47-33 overall on the glass, led by Evan Boudreaux's supreme 14-rebound effort.

Seven of Boudreaux's rebounds came at the offensive end.

"We talked about setting the tone on the glass," center Matt Haarms said, "and he was there to do that for us."

Purdue came out operating at a high level offensively, Sasha Stefanovic nailing a three off a well-executed play 16 seconds into the game. Its rebounding amplified its performance level, and as a result, Purdue got off to an outstanding start and built a lead Iowa could never so much as threaten.

Iowa, on its home floor, where again it hadn't previously lost a Big Ten game this season, led for merely 16 seconds. It trailed by double-figures for all but the final two seconds of the game's final 26 minutes and 19 seconds.

Hawkeye All-American-in-waiting Luka Garza scored 26 against Purdue again, but no one else truly hurt the Boilermakers, same as the first game.

Iowa had its chances in the second half to really make Purdue sweat, but the Boilermakers got just enough offense against the Hawkeyes' pressure and Iowa couldn't make enough shots at the other end, finishing 8-of-30 from three-point range.

Jahaad Proctor and Eric Hunter took turns scoring key lead-preservation baskets, Boudreaux tormented the crowd with offensive rebounds and Purdue sealed the win at the foul line, making 7-of-8 in the game's final 2:03.

Two plays in particular were the story of the night for both teams.

With 4:27 left, Iowa stymied a Purdue possession with three seconds left on the shot clock, knocking the ball out. The Boilermakers led by 13 at the time, and Iowa needed a stop bad.

Eric Hunter took Nojel Eastern's in-bound and beat the shot clock with a three.

"That was just the last (option)," Painter said. "We missed who we were trying to get (the ball to.)"

That was a crushing blow for Iowa.

"I didn't hear anything (after that)," said Hunter, after scoring a career-high 19 points. "I just heard our bench."

Prior, with eight-and-a-half minutes left, Haarms missed around the basket. Boudreaux ran down the offensive rebound in the corner and was fouled, then made both free throws, another maddening sequence for an Iowa team for which so much has gone right this season, except against Purdue.

Energy, the secret sauce to road success for Purdue this season that's been so hard to come by.

The reality is that Purdue was pretty good on offense and very good on defense, but the certain something was the tenacity on the glass.

"We saw a couple shots go in early, and that helped," Boudreaux said. "I'm actually more proud of the way we finished, because we've been up in games and we've been close in games and we let them slip when they've been on the road.

"Tonight, they made their runs and we were able to withstand those and keep them at arm's length."

Pace has mattered so much, too, for Purdue in its pair of wins over Iowa.

The Hawkeyes are the highest-scoring team in the Big Ten, in part because they aim to be. They want to run and they want to get shots up first chance they get.

Purdue just hasn't let them, in large part due to the fact that the Boilermakers have had so much offensive success.

"If you get a bucket, there's not a lot of teams who can get out in transition," Haarms said. "... We did a great job setting our defense just by scoring, getting great opportunities, getting on the offensive glass. We saw that they like to leak out because they want to get out in transition so bad."

Iowa recruited Evan Boudreaux out of high school, then told him it had decided to go in a different direction.

He went to Dartmouth, then Purdue.

"I've definitely carried that chip on my shoulder for a very long time," Boudreaux said.

Clearly.

The Boilermaker senior helped mar Iowa's senior night a game before his own back in West Lafayette, and seemed to relish trolling the Carver-Hawkeye crowd with pure scrap. After the ball he ran down in the corner, there was a distinct groan coming from the stands.

"I'm the white guy who's a little undersized with a receding hairline," Boudreaux joked. "I'm not a guy who's going to be a fan favorite in other arenas. But it's fun. If they're concerned about me and chanting things at me, then they're not going to be into the game for their team."

Boudreaux was Purdue's pulse on this night, its starter.

Hunter was the closer, scoring nine points in the game's final six minutes, including two threes.

"He just stepped up, made some free throws, made good decisions, just played a good overall game," Painter said. "... Eric had a great game for us."

The one blemish: He missed the back end of a pair of foul shots with 4:10 left.

No worries, though.

Boudreaux dove for the rebound and called timeout.

Another groan from the crowd.

Hope springs eternal.

The Indiana win in Bloomington was a great win, but this, again, was the most consequential win of the season for Purdue and keeps hope alive for the Boilermakers as far as the NCAA Tournament is concerned.

It also shows yet again amidst this season of inconsistency what this Purdue team is capable of at its best. This team has proven Itself to be an NCAA Tournament-caliber team, but one who just may not have an NCAA Tournament-caliber résumé when judgement day arrives.

It bears repeating: Iowa has been a really good team this season and has been a really good team at home.

This was quite a win for the Boilermakers.

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