Indiana Basketball routs Purdue on 40th anniversary of Bob Knight’s chair throw

On the 40th anniversary of Bob Knight’s legendary chair throw, Indiana basketball hosted Purdue for the 221st addition of the rivalry. In honor of his former coach, Mike Woodson sat in the historic chair for his final game against Purdue in Assembly Hall as the head coach of Indiana basketball.

In front of an impassioned Assembly Hall crowd, Indiana basketball took down their rivals 73-58 to earn a massive quad 1 win.

After a week off, Mike Woodson made the decision to change the starting lineup. Woodson elected to start Myles Rice, Trey Galloway, Anthony Leal, Luke Goode, and Malik Reneau.

That unit jumped out to an 11-7 lead over the first 5:10 of the game before both teams went to their bench.

That start included an altercation between Anthony Leal and Caleb Furst after a rebound. Despite going to the monitor, the officials elected to call nothing despite many thinking Leal would be ejected.

Indiana basketball rode a strong start leading 21-16, but Purdue threw a haymaker to end the half. Over the final 8:39  of the half the Boilermakers outscored the Hoosiers 21-4 run to take a 37-25 lead into the break.

Despite trailing by double-figures, Indiana basketball punched back. They opened the half on a 28-3 run to take the lead back.

They led by as much as 18 points as they coasted down the stretch to the win.

Starting as the lone big man for Indiana basketball, Malik Reneau had an all-around dominant performance. Reneau made all seven of his shots in the game en route to a 15-point, six rebounds, and four-assist performance. In the win, he also reached the 1,000 career points mark.

Indiana natives Trey Galloway, Anth0ny Leal, and Luke Goode made a massive impact in the Hoosiers’ winning effort. 

Trey Galloway played conductor scoring 15 points on 5-10 from the field, but his biggest impact came as a passer. Galloway led the game with nine assists in the win.

After shooting just 1-5 in the first half, Luke Goode had a big second half for the Hoosiers. He finished with 11 points on 4-9 from the field.

Anthony Leal led a dominant defensive performance for Indiana basketball. He caused havoc on both ends of the floor, but his defensive effort stood out.

Leal finished the game with five rebounds, three steals, and two blocks for the Hoosiers. On the offensive end, he scored eight points and added four assists.

Myles Rice also played a big role on both ends for Indiana. His ball pressure caused problems for Purdue as they struggled to get into an offensive flow in the second half. Rice finished the game with 12 points and three steals in the win. 

Oumar Ballo also added 12 points and five rebounds off the bench in the win.

As a team, Indiana shot 28-54 (51.9%) from the field and held Purdue to just 20-47 (42.6%) from the field. The Hoosiers also forced 16 Purdue turnovers while having just seven as a team.

A big part of the win was the Hoosiers’ ability to shut down Purdue’s duo of Braden Smith and Trey Kaufman-Renn. Smith finished with just eight points on 2-8 from the field with five assists and six turnovers. Kaufman-Renn had just nine points on 4-11 from the field before fouling out.

With the win Indiana basketball improves to 16-11 on the season and 7-9 in the Big Ten. Their NCAA tournament chances are still alive, but they still have plenty of work to do.

The Hoosiers will be back in action Wednesday night when they host Penn State at Assembly Hall.

SEE ALSO: Who should be the next head coach of Indiana basketball? According to one head coach, the option is a ‘No Brainer’