Purdue basketball sets consecutive wins record with victory at Indiana

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Purdue basketball has its school-record winning streak, and it came at the expense of its fiercest rival.

Isaac Haas tied a career high with 26 points to lead the No. 3 Boilermakers to a 74-67 victory over Indiana at Assembly Hall on Sunday.

Vincent Edwards scored 19 points with seven rebounds for Purdue, which pulled away at the free throw line in the final five minutes.

With Thursday's 92-88 victory over No. 25 Michigan, this Purdue team joined four others who had won 16 straight games. The last of those teams, in 1987-88, saw its run end with a loss at Indiana.

The Boilermakers avoided a similar fate Sunday despite trailing at halftime for the first time in Big Ten Conference play.

Purdue also won its program-record 12th straight Big Ten game — a streak which dates back to last season. The Boilermakers improved to 10-0 in Big Ten play to maintain a one-game lead on Ohio State.

Purdue's outgoing seniors won for the fifth time in six tries against Indiana. They won for the third time in four tries at Assembly Hall — something no Boilermaker team since 1971 had done.

Indiana senior reserve forward Collin Hartman was not in uniform Sunday. His absence further depleted the Hoosiers' already thin frontcourt depth.

Purdue capitalized on that advantage with Haas, who score 14 points on 6 of 9 shooting. He also showed off the passing skills developed over four years, exploiting double teams and hitting Vincent Edwards cutting to the basket for layups.

However, for the first time in weeks, the Boilermakers couldn't pair that early post production with perimeter accuracy. Purdue came in second in the nation in 3-point percentage and first among major-conference teams. Yet on Sunday it missed its first six shots behind the arc, a streak broken by P.J. Thompson with 5:46 left in the half.

That was actually the game's first 3, as Indiana couldn't hit jump shots early, either. But the Hoosiers took a cue from Michigan and worked for layups via high ball screens. Eventually, IU hit its last 3-pointers going into a 37-35 halftime lead.

It was the first halftime deficit Purdue faced in Big Ten play.

Purdue struck the first blow out of halftime. When Carsen Edwards jumped a passing lane at mid-court, soared in for a left-handed dunk and finished the and-one chance, Purdue led 44-39 with 16:05 to play.

Indiana battled back on the offensive boards. Juwan Morgan scored on a third chance, then on the next possession, made two free throws following another offensive rebound. 

Purdue re-took the lead with under 10 minutes to play, when Dakota Mathias hit 3-pointers on consecutive possessions. He had amassed five assists before attempting his first shot Sunday and finished with nine points.