Eric Hunter Leads Purdue to a Final Win over IU

Purdue finishes 25-6 as they head to Indy for the BTT. Their seeding could still be slightly shaken if Illinois loses tomorrow to Iowa, but they’ll be a two or three seed for the unimportant post-season event being played in Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

It was Senior Day, Hunter, Sash, Williams and walk-on Wulbrun were all honored following the game, but their celebration would have been less-joyful had Purdue not ground out this win. Purdue watched leads of 12 (in the first half) fall to four before halftime, and an eight point lead became a deficit in the second half. Eric Hunter played large, Sash hit some big shots and Purdue did just enough to beat IU 69-67, in spite of being on the ropes in the closing minutes. Jaden Ivey and Tre Williams both struggled and never found rhythm on offense as Purdue’s offense looked as it has in the last few games; inconsistent.

IU is a solid defensive team and an awful shooting team, and that saved Purdue as much as anything down the stretch…Here are my thoughts.