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BLOOMINGTON — Purdue seems to be finding a certain something.
While the 17th-ranked Boilermakers can still kick themselves over a loss at Nebraska, Thursday night's 69-64 win at arch-rival Indiana gave them their fourth win in five games, during a five-game stretch that stood to define its season.
The narrow victory at IU came on the heels of an equally narrow one at Maryland.
"I don't want to speak too soon," point guard P.J. Thompson said, "but you want to be playing your best basketball in February and March.
"I think we're playing really good basketball."
And tough basketball.
Purdue was again unfazed by the hostility of the road, same story as Michigan State and Maryland.
The Boilermakers trailed by seven moments into the second half, but again overcame a second-half hole on the road, winning this game differently than it figured it would have to.
"I figured this game would be in the high 70s or low 80s," Coach Matt Painter said. "Both teams played better defense than they have and both teams had open looks they normally make that they didn't."
Purdue came in needing to limit turnovers and keep IU off the offensive glass. Its results were mixed, at best, on both fronts. It needed to contain big man Thomas Bryant. He had 24 points and made three three-pointers.
The reality was, Purdue didn't necessarily do many of the things it felt it needed to to win this game.
It won anyway.
"The really good teams still find a way," Thompson said. "We came together at halftime and said, 'We're winning this game no matter what.'"
It came down to the final minutes, again.
IU took a two-point lead on Josh Newkirk's three with just under five minutes to play, but Vincent Edwards scored on a post-up, then a putback of Carsen Edwards' miss in transition.
It was the capper to Vincent Edwards' biggest game of the season. Coming off the first scoreless game of his Purdue career at Maryland, the junior erupted for a career-high-tying 26 points.
"I was just getting open and open," Edwards said, "and teammates kept finding me.
"I think I play better when I'm just (reacting) and not thinking about scoring."
With Purdue up two, Dakota Mathias missed a three, but Thompson — of all people — grabbed the offensive rebound under the basket.
"The first thing you think is he's going to get blocked," Painter said.
Nope.
Thompson looked around and found himself alone.
His layup — his only field goal of the game — put Purdue up four with 2:28 left.
"I think that was my first offensive rebound of the year," Thompson said. "(Caleb Swanigan) usually gets them all. I was in the right place at the right time."
But the biggest play of the game came from Swanigan.
Purdue was up just two when Matt Painter called timeout with 1:02 left. Out of the stoppage, Swanigan slipped off the pick he set, then took Mathias' pass to the basket for the and-one that gave the Boilermakers a five-point lead and the cushion they needed to salt the game away at the foul line.
It didn't come without some drama.
After Purdue went up five, Bryant attacked Swanigan on defense. The IU big man was initially called for a charge that would have given Purdue possession. Another official called the foul on Swanigan, which would have given IU and and-one and fouled Swanigan out.
They settled on a bizarre double-foul, which fouled both players out.
Swanigan was not happy.
"It hurts the product of college basketball when you make a call like that," he said.
But as far as complaints go, that's all Purdue could come up with before it left Assembly Hall with another harrowing road victory, another blow against the road woes that have plagued it and probably cost it a chance at a Big Ten title.
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