IU 59, Purdue 79| Game Wrap | Rivalry Swept

For about 12 minutes tonight, Purdue-IU looked exactly like the rivalry the state of Indiana is used to. It was a back and forth affair, a defensive-minded grind that had both team combining to start 0-11 from three.

Then Braden Smith stole a pass from Gabe Cupps, and took it down the court where he dumped it off to Fletcher Loyer who then returned the ball to Smith wide open beyond the three-point and Smith knocked down the games first three-pointer, sparking an offensive flurry from Purdue.

The outmatched Hoosiers couldn't recover, and #2 Purdue asserted itself to a 79-59 win.

Purdue's offense ran through Zach Edey early, but it wasn't until Braden Smith took over that the offense really started sprinting. Smith's 6-0 personal run near the 12 minute mark of the first half featured dueling Smith lay ups, floaters through contact, and more lay ups as he gave Purdue its first lead of the game after Indiana started the game making 4 of its first 5 field goal attempts.

Soon after Smith's first three, true freshman Myles Colvin added on, playing for the first time in four games, Colvin knocked down the second three of the game off a Smith pass that gave Purdue a 32-19 lead. Soon after, Mason Gillis knocked down a three off a Zach Edey pass out to the perimeter and Purdue's lead grew to 35-19.

But IU's Trey Galloway hit three shots in the final couple minutes, including a reverse lay up around Zach Edey that pulled Purdue's lead back to 12, 37-25 going into half.

Indiana made a strong surge to start the second half against Purdue in the first contest of the season. This time, Purdue put the Hoosiers away early as IU's offense stalled and its other big, Malik Reneau, picked up his second, third, and fourth foul in the first three minutes of action.

IU turned the ball over on its first two possessions and Purdue went on a 10-0 run to start the half.

When Kel'el Ware finally broke IU's scoreless start, the game was 47-28 and Indiana wouldn't challenge again.

To add some icing onto the cake, after four years, Zach Edey finally delivered something to the Mackey Arena crowd it had been waiting for all season.

With 6:35 in the second half, the reigning National Player of the Year Zach Edey set a screen for Braden Smith. Then, Smith's defender went towards the point guard. Edey waited for the ball and got it at the top of the key. Edey didn't hesitate, and stepped into a three that went straight, but long, perfectly, and bounced off glass and then in.

Zach Edey has done a lot in college basketball that no one else had. But in that moment, he had finally done something he had never done. Make a three-pointer.

It was a perfect cap to another dominant performance. Edey finished the game with 26 points, 13 rebounds, and 4 assists.

Edey had help, with Braden Smith breaking out of his shooting slump against IU by scoring 19 points to go with 9 rebounds and 4 assists.

In a game dominated by Purdue's best two players, no other Boiler had double-digits.

While the game at Bloomington was never particularly competitive, Woodson's Hoosiers really lost Purdue in the first half after starting center Kel'el Ware went to the bench with two fouls. Ware sat for over 10 minutes in that first half, leaving Jordan Sparks to try and bang down low with Zach Edey while offering nearly nothing on the offensive end of the floor.

Ware played just 9 minutes in the first half of this one after catching his second foul and again getting auto-benched by Woodson. It helped spark a run by Purdue with eight minutes to play in the first half as IU's offense ground to a halt without its best big man.

Purdue's Mason Gillis has handled most the scoring punch for Purdue off the bench this season. He did it again against Indiana, knocking down 3 threes, including on back to back possessions, and accounted for 9 of the 15 Purdue bench points.

But in the first half, Myles Colvin was brought into the game with four minutes left to play in the half. Colvin hit an early three, his first points and his first playing time in the last four games since had had 9 points in the blow out against Michigan.

Both teams struggled to shoot the three early, and it took over half the half to get one to fall when Braden Smith's three finally went. Purdue was 3 of 13 in the first half from three, but it got hot in the second half. After struggling to find its shot against Wisconsin on the road and still winning, Purdue was still able to dominate at the end of the first half despite not shooting it well.

Then Purdue made 5 of 8 in the second half, and Purdue was able to blow IU off the court, extending the lead to nearly thirty. It helps when your 7-4 center is knocking down his first three-pointer of his career.