Now that’s what a Final Four team is supposed to look like! Purdue fired on all cylinders in a home blowout of the Indiana Hoosiers in a game that the Boilers used to vault themselves firmly into the 2 seed line for the NCAA Tournament committee’s pre-selection show. The Boilers overwhelmed an overmatched Hoosiers squad that struggled to get themselves on track offensively and couldn’t play aggressive without fouling. It left Mackey Arena satisfied after several weeks of games where it just seemed
like the Boilers didn’t feel comfortable at home.
Let’s jump into the game ‘By the Numbers’:
29
It was very apparent early on that the Boilers were firing on all cylinders as they jumped out to a double-digit lead for the first time at 25-14 with 6:52 left in the first half after a Trey Kaufman-Renn ‘And-1’ bucket (he would go on to convert the free throw to push the lead to 12 as well). The Hoosiers would never get within single digits of the Boilers the rest of the game as Purdue would push their halftime lead to 46-29. The lead would balloon to 34 on the back of a scoring flurry from freshman Omar Mayer after he scored 8 points in 2 minutes of game play.
Purdue would eventually settle at 29 points with their 93-64 with an Aaron Fine crossover layup. That twenty nine point victory is the largest victory for the Boilers in their series against the Hoosiers since a 120-76 win in 1969 and the 8th largest among the 129 victories in the series since the 1912-1913 season.
18
Welcome to the party Omar Mayer! The freshman from Israel scored a career high 18 points on 6-8 shooting overall and 4-5 from behind the arc. He has been fantastic over the last several games as he has shown why he was so heavily thought of coming into the season. Since the Maryland game, a stretch of 6 games, Mayer has averaged 8 points on 48.5% shooting from the field and 50% from behind the arc (10/20). Against the Hoosiers, he had a stretch where he scored 14 of Purdue’s 18 points in a 3 minute span.
One of those buckets from that burst encapsulates the effort Purdue has played with over the last few games that was very clearly lacking during the struggles of late January and early February. With 5:52 left in the second half, Mayer pushed the ball up the floor to TKR but the pass was too long. TKR pushed the ball to Gicarri Harris but his three pointer was blocked. TKR came flying back onto the court from out of bounds and found Mayer eight feet behind the top of the key…
Nothing. But. Net.
If Purdue gets that version of Mayer, a Final Four push is squarely in sight.
64.7
The lid finally popped off the bucket for the Boilers who just seemingly could never get everyone on track at once. Not so much against the Hoosiers. Purdue shot a season-high 64.7% from the field which also the highest percentage for a team in the Matt Painter-era and the highest for Purdue since 2000. It is also the highest that IU has ever allowed against Purdue in the history of the series.
23-0
Loyer was perfect from the field and finished his career against IU (unless they meet in the B1G Tourney) going 17-33 from behind the arc. His 4-4 from behind the arc raised an interesting stat that Purdue is 23-0 in Loyer’s four seasons when he connects on four or more threes. That’s a testament to the weight he carries for the Boilers on the offensive end as one of the best shooters in the country.
Loyer has shot 40.2% for the season from behind the three point arc but since the Maryland game Loyer has turned it on. In those six games, Loyer has averaged 17.7 points, 2.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, while shooting a blistering 48.9% from behind the arc (22-45).
22.5
One of the biggest factors that has played a part in Purdue’s improvement over the last six games following the loss to Indiana at Assembly Hall has been their ability to get to the free throw line. After averaging just 16.3 attempts per game in the first 21 games of the season, Purdue has now averaged 22.5 since the Maryland game. They’ve also cashed in there at a high rate this season as they are shooting 74% as a team but getting to the line six more times and forcing opponents into more foul trouble has led to a 5-1 record with their only loss to #1 Michigan.
