Purdue makes late surge to beat Indiana 69-64
Carsen Edwards (3) and the Boilermakers have won three straight .
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana's Tom Crean was stunned, Purdue's Matt Painter was surprised and fans of both teams were furious after Thursday night's confounding finish.
Now it will go down as yet another memorable chapter in the state's most passionate rivalry.
After No. 16 Purdue charged ahead in the closing minutes and finally took a five-point lead when Caleb Swanigan completed a three-point play with 1:02 left, the officials conferred on a block-charge call, ruled it a double foul that resulted in the fifth fouls for Swanigan and Indiana's Thomas Bryant and eventually helped the Boilermakers wrap up a 69-64 victory.
"It was momentum no question. ... You're either getting the two points or you're getting an and-one," Crean said before taking a deep sigh. "There's not much more I can add than that."
Lamont Simpson, the ref under the basket, initially called a block on Swanigan. Bryant, who led the Hoosiers with 23 points, made the basket and appeared headed to the free-throw line with a chance to cut the Boilermakers' lead to two.
But Paul Szelc called a charge and after a conference near the Indiana bench, the basket was erased, both players were called for fouls and the Hoosiers took the ball out underneath the basket.
The sold out crowd booed loudly and angry fans immediately ranted on Twitter about a "weak" call.
Following the game, the officials tried to clarify the decision.
"It's a rare occurrence that you have this happen where you have one official with the block, the other one with the charge," Simpson acknowledged in a pool report, citing the rule that says when it happens a double foul is assessed. "You automatically go to that rule, you can't pick one. You don't pick one. You have to go that rule."
It didn't make anyone happy.
"Everyone saw it, it just wasn't a good call for either player," Swanigan said after finishing with 16 points and 14 rebounds. "It takes us off the court, and just hurts the product of college basketball."
And it certainly changed what had been a back-and-forth game that appeared headed to a fantastic finish.
Vince Edwards scored a career-high 26 points to lead the Boilermakers (20-5, 9-3 Big Ten), who have won three straight.
Bryant led the Hoosiers (15-10, 5-7) on a night James Blackmon Jr. returned from his lower left leg injury and scored 11 points. The Hoosiers have lost two in a row.
Indiana led 57-55 after Josh Newkirk's 3-pointer with 4:56 to go, but the Boilermakers retook the lead with six straight points and then made it 64-59 on the three-point play. Purdue sealed it from the free-throw line.
BIG PICTURE
Purdue: The Boilermakers are rolling. They are 9-3 in conference play for the first time since 2010-11 and have won at Indiana, Michigan State and Ohio State in the same season for the first time since 2009-10. And with a well-deserved weekend off, the Boilermakers should make their 34th consecutive appearance in the AP Top 25 .
Indiana: The defending Big Ten champs are two games under .500 in league play and have to do a lot of work over the next month if they're going to make the NCAA Tournament.
INJURY UPDATE
The injury-riddled Hoosiers suffered another tough blow Thursday when 6-foot-10 freshman De'Ron Davis took a shot to the face with about 12 1/2 minutes left in the game. He stayed on the court briefly before going to the locker room. No foul was called, much to Crean's dismay, and Davis did not return to the game.
"He wasn't feeling well. He had to leave the game to be evaluated. We'll continue to evaluate him and hopefully he'll be OK," Crean said before adding "You can't be on the floor, and there not be some sort of contact that came."
ALMOST EVEN
It was hard to find much of an edge on the stat sheet Thursday.
Purdue outscored Indiana 28-24 in the paint and 16-13 off turnovers but was outscored 15-14 on second-chance points and 7-6 by the bench. Things were so close, that two of the league's best rebounding teams actually wound up with a 35-35 tie.
The only notable difference was Purdue made 17 of 24 free throws. Indiana was 12 of 16.
UP NEXT
Purdue: After a brutal five-game stretch, the Boilermakers return home Tuesday against struggling Rutgers.
Indiana: Seventeen days after enduring an embarrassing 30-point loss at Michigan, the Hoosiers host the rematch Sunday.
