The good news for the Hoosiers on Thursday evening was that they were able to return Armaan Franklin back on the court after him being unavailable for the past two contests due to an ankle sprain. Unfortunately for Indiana, they were unable to recover an impressive performance from instate rival Purdue, extending Archie Miller’s losing streak to Purdue to eight.

Notes:

  1. Indiana’s best lineup was Phinisee, Franklin, Galloway, Hunter, Jackson-Davis. After going +9 in the first half, that group did not play together in the 2nd half. Phinisee’s foul trouble potentially played a role in handcuffing Archie Miller.
  2. That unit outscored Purdue 9-0 in 2:48. On the season, they’ve given up just seven points in 8:24 of total playing time together, or .83 points per minute (PPM). Anything under 1 PPM is really good, and all 8:24 came in Big Ten play. In a game where  Miller lamented his team’s defensive struggles, not playing this group at all in the second half is surprising, to say the least.
  3. When Phinisee and Franklin were in the backcourt together, they went +19 in 17:02. Therefore, IU went -31 in the other 21:58 when other guard combinations were used.
  4. On that note, Phinisee and Franklin played together for 9:16 in the first half. They played together for 5:30 of the first 7:31 in the second half before Phinisee picked up his third foul, resulting in Miller removing him from the contest. Phinisee re-entered the game with 9:45 left and promptly picked up his fourth foul seconds later.
  5. It’s time for Archie Miller to find a different role or niche for Khristian Lander. Purdue extended their lead from 18-15 to 29-17 in the 2:24 that Lander played.

Featured Photo: Indiana University Athletics

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