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Brandon Newman and Jaden Ivey saved Christmas.
For Purdue, at least.
The two Boilermaker freshman guards made big shot after big shot during the second half Friday afternoon, helping Purdue stave off a Maryland rally and earn a 73-70 Christmas Day victory.
Even after Newman and Ivey — who scored 17 and 11 points, respectively — ushered Purdue through all sorts of harrowing moments after a 15-point first half lead had evaporated, it came down to the final minute, when Donta Scott's driving bucket with 57 seconds left tied the game at 70-70, the first moment Purdue didn't lead since 0-0.
But with 38.4 seconds left, Eric Hunter's baseline shot drew a goal-tending call, then Darryl Morsell, with a chance to tie the game with two free throws, missed both.
Trevion Williams split a pair of free throws after being fouled on Morsell's second miss, then Purdue came up with a defensive stop when it needed one most, and the Boilermakers held.
It wouldn't have happened without the clutch shooting of its two young guards.
"We need their aggressiveness," Trevion Williams said.
NEWMAN AND IVEY COME UP BIG
Ivey had been struggling, admittedly, after missing five games earlier this season with a foot problem. It's not what he's been accustomed to.
Maybe this was his breakout moment.
After Ivey snapped a 10-0 Maryland run with a free throw, Jairus Hamilton's three-pointer brought the Terps to within just one point, 46-45, with less than 13 minutes left.
Ivey's back-to-back three-pointers sparked an 8-0 Boilermaker run that at the very least bought the home team time. The freshman had been 1-for-9 from three this season prior.
"I've been struggling for a couple games," Ivey said. "Just to see one go down was a confidence booster for me.
"I didn't leave the gym today. After shoot-around, I just kept shooting and I just pride myself on that I'll keep shooting. I've put in so much work, put up some many shots, put in so much time in the gym, I'm not going to settle for less. I'm not going to stop shooting. I'm going to be confident in myself, because I know how much work I've put in."
Known, too, for his work ethic and confidence, Newman would likely tell you the exact same thing, though he'd not been struggling prior to Maryland's visit.
After Ivey's surge buoyed Purdue, there were subsequent Terp runs to come, and every time the Boilermakers seemed to need somebody to get — and make — a shot, Newman seemed like the guy to do it.
With just under six minutes left, after Scott's three had brought Maryland back within two, Newman nailed a pull-up jumper. At 4:35, shortly after the Terps had been back within one, Newman splashed another jumper to put Purdue ahead five. Then, with 1:53 to play and the Terrapins within two and trending very well, Newman put the ball on the floor, beat the Terps to the hoop and finished with his left hand.
Those were big moments, all of them.
"I think it just comes from my competitive nature and wanting to win so bad," Newman said of those moments. "Tonight, it was about making shots, but our next game it might be about defending or rebounding. I'm really just trying to do whatever my coach and teammates need from me to help Purdue win basketball games."
MARYLAND'S RUN
Maryland transformed the game by making six threes and repeatedly exploiting Purdue off the dribble against a Boilermaker defense Matt Painter dubbed a "comedy of errors" at times, due to broken switches, botched assignments and whatever else.
"There's a fine line there when you find ways to win," Painter said.
Translation: Sometimes, a team shouldn't be in position to have to.
Purdue never trailed and led by double-digits for a great deal of the afternoon, yet once again had to fight to hold on, in part because the Terrapins upped their game, but also because the Boilermakers didn't hold up their end playing with a robust lead. Defensively, Purdue lapsed, and while 10 turnovers is an acceptable number, a series of them early on in the second half did seem to energize the visitors.
Nevertheless, the win was a crucial win for Purdue as it now heads to the road to face ranked Illinois and Rutgers in its next two games.
"Iowa was a struggle for us offensively," Ivey said. "We had to bounce back. That's what we prided ourselves on today."
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