Purdue Basketball Rallies to beat Rival Indiana in closing seconds

On February 1, 2025By Littum

West Lafayette-another good old-fashioned Purdue basketball versus Indiana rivaling games for the cord.

In the end, it was a beginner who presented himself in the series.

Gicarri Harris blocked Myles Rice’s Jumper with four seconds left to go, and Boilermakers hit four free throw in the last 3.3 seconds for a 81-76 Comeback Win Over Hoosiers at MacKey Arena Friday night.

Harris made two free kicks after being buried on a dunk attempt with 3:40 going, giving Purdue a 69-67 lead and after a 3-pointer from Mackenzie Mgbako, Fletcher Loyers Conventional Three-P-Point Games with 2:36 Going gave the Purdue the lead right back. Fom there, the boilers had an answer to everything Indiana threw on them.

In the first half, Purdue continued by leaving the door open and Indiana eventually capitalized.

The Hoosians went on a 9-0 race that turned a 29-27 Purdue lead into a seven-point IU lead.

Boilermakers was piloted by the Point Guard Braden Smith and sneaked within a marked distance at the break.

Purdue basketball turning point

After getting the stir on a quick break, Caleb Furst made the first of a two-shot free throwing. Indiana responded by calling timeout to give Furst a long break between attempts. Freeze Out worked when Furst missed the second attempt, but CJ COX grabbed the offensive rebound.

This opportunity for the second chance led to Gicarri Harris beating the shooting clock with a fadeaway in traffic just before the break and closing Purdues Kløft to 41-37 at the break.

Trey Kaufman-Renn scored seven straight points to start the second half and had a steal during this stretch.

Although Boilermakers lost the lead several times in the second half, it put Burst Purdue back in the thick of it as the game could have gone south.

3 stars

Oumar Ballo, Indiana: He had seen Purdue last season with Arizona. Without Edey, his enormous presence disturbed, the transfer was too good around the curve towards Boilermakers. While Mgbako had a big evening with 25 points and Trey Galloway was huge in the second half, Ballo was stable everywhere for Hoosiers and ended with 14 points and 8 rebounds.

Braden Smith, Purdue: Where would this game have gone if not for Smith who held the boilers together when things went wrong? You would be hard pressed to discuss about the Junior Point Guard like Big Ten Player of the Year right now. Iron Man logged another 40-minute game. He had 24 points, 7 assists and 6 steal.

Trey Kaufman-Renn, Purdue: Despite violations allowing Kaufman-Renn, only 12 first half minutes, he was 4 out of 5 shoots with eight points. His spurt to start the second half gave Purdue life. Despite defensive restrictions due to poor trouble, Kaufman-Renn balanced it with unstoppable violation and ended with 23 points.

Sam King covers sports for the journal and courier. E -mail him at [email protected] and follow him on x and instagram @samueltking.