No. 15 Purdue escaped its rivalry game against Indiana with a 48-46 win thanks to a Matt Haarms tip-in with three seconds remaining on Tuesday night. The Boilermakers move into a tie for first place in the Big Ten with Michigan and Michigan State with the victory, as all three are 12-3 in conference play.
Make that 🖐 in a row for and eight of the last nine in the rivalry!
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork)
It was a drama-filled ending at Indiana, and Matt Haarms' tip-in was the deciding bucket:
Haarms' last-second make ended a game dominated by defense. The Boilermakers and Hoosiers combined to shoot 34 for 114 from the field in a rockfight. Purdue was the better shooting team on the night, and still only hit 32 percent of its shots from the field. Indiana's Romeo Langford was the game's top scorer with 14 points, and he scored 9 of those on free throws. IU was able to shut down Carsen Edwards, Purdue's star and the Big Ten's leading scorer, to the tune of 9 points on 24 shots, including an 0-for-10 mark on 3-pointers.
GET TO KNOW MATT HAARMS: How he made it to Purdue after a childhood in Amsterdam
Indiana drops to 13-13 on the season and 4-11 in Big Ten play with matchups against Iowa, Wisconsin and Michigan State looming. Purdue is up to 19-7 overall, and could end up beating Michigan and Michigan State for the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. Those in-state rivals still have to play each other twice. Purdue, which already lost to Michigan and Michigan State, doesn't have to face either again in the regular season.
If Purdue does end up winning the regular-season Big Ten title, it would be the Boilermakers first since the 2016-17 season, when they went 14-4 in conference play. They upped their record to 15-3 and ended up one game back of Michigan State.
