In the final regular season game of the 2021-22 men’s basketball season the Hoosiers traveled to West Lafayette, IN to face of with the No. 8 ranked Purdue Boilermakers in Mackey Arena in attempt to save their NCAA tournament hopes. After battling back all game long, the Hoosiers just did not have enough to knock off the No. 8 Boilermakers as they fell 69-67.

It was the same starters for game 30 as it was for game one for head coach Mike Woodson and the Indiana Hoosiers. Xavier Johnson, Parker Stewart, Miller Kopp, Trayce Jackson-Davis, and Race Thompson started things out for the Cream and Crimson.

It was the Race Thompson show offensively early on for the Hoosiers. The redshirt senior accounted for 9 of Indiana’s first 12 points and kept the Hoosiers alive early.

It was very evident that Purdue’s offensive gameplan through the first eight minutes was to attack TJD on defense and try to get him to fall into foul trouble, just as he did in their first contest. That was not the case in this one. While Jackson-Davis did struggle offensively, the 6-foot-9 sophomore did a great job defensively.

Under 16 media timeout Purdue lead the Hoosiers 10-7 and were finding success from long distance going 2-for-2. Indiana settled down but struggled against the Mackey Arena crowd at the start.

Through the first eight minutes and some change both teams were shooting over 50 percent from the field. Indiana sat at 57 percent from the floor while the Boilermakers were shooting 55 percent. Both teams were shooting 50 percent from long range. Indiana was 1-for-2 while Purdue was 2-for-4

With 11:43 remaining in the first half the game as all knotted up at 14.

— Indiana Basketball (@IndianaMBB) March 5, 2022

Over the next four minutes Indiana missed their next seven shots and allowed Purdue to go on a 10-0 run to take their largest lead of the game, 24-14

Jackson-Davis finally got his first field goal attempt to fall with just under five minutes remaining in the first half

Indiana’s inability to secure a defensive rebound allowed Purdue to take as big as a 13-point lead. The boilermakers had six offensive rebounds with four minutes left in the first half.

Basketball is a game of runs and Xavier Johnson really found his groove in the last five minutes of the first half. The first year Hoosier scored eight points and found his teammates for two assist to bring IU back to within four at the break.

At halftime the Hoosiers trailed 33-29 behind Johnsons eight points, three assists, and two steals. Race Thompson led the Hoosiers in scoring with nine points and rebounds with five.

Within the first 20 seconds of the second half Race Thompson picked up his third foul. Indiana’s leading scorer was head to the bench for what seemed like would be a long while.

With Thompson on the bench TJD stepped up in a big way in the second half. After only scoring two points in the first half the preseason All-American scored 13 second half points to give Indiana a shot at picking up a much-needed victory.

The second half was the start of a back-and-forth battle between the two Indiana schools. Every time Indiana got within striking distance, the Boilermakers had an answer.