Unlikely sources help IU basketball remove Purdue monkey off its back

BLOOMINGTON — In the locker room after the game, Mike Woodson pointed to Michael Durr.

“Great game, Mike,” Woodson said as Durr’s IU teammates erupted in celebration. “You were ready.”

Durr probably wasn’t the one Woodson thought he’d have to rely on to guard Zach Edey and Trevion Williams. He probably wasn’t quite the guy he intended would be at the free-throw line with the few Purdue fans in the building trying to throw him off as the game entered its final 10 minutes.

Durr stepped up to the free-throw line and calmly drained maybe two of the biggest free throws of his career — certainly his career at IU.

'Run a play for me': Rob Phinisee wanted the ball. Mike Woodson gave it to him.

Doyel: Assembly Hall had waited for a moment like this. And Rob Phinisee made it happen.

“Mike stepped up, and it's the most minutes he has played this year, and he gave us some positive minutes,” Woodson said. “We're going to need that the rest of the way.”

Though it wasn’t quite Durr’s scoring that made his performance so valuable. On a day where IU’s starters struggled mightily, players like Rob Phinisee and Durr shined off the bench as IU beat No. 4 Purdue 68-65.

Phinisee’s performance headlined the night. He hit the shots that started IU’s first-half run, and the game-winner in the final moments. Though it was the bench as a whole that truly lifted IU to its biggest win in years. Take a quick glance at the stat sheet and it would be hard to tell IU won this game. Watch the game with your eyes though, and it's a different story of the unsung heroes that made history.

“Before the game, I told Mike, it's going to be your day,” Xavier Johnson said. “And you know how Trayce (Jackson-Davis) was actually feeling, so Mike was actually going to be ready to play. Coach told him that he was going to go to him and be ready. For a player not to play as much as he has been in the past and to come out here and compete with those guys in the top-five team in the nation, it shows a lot.”

Every IU starter had negative +/- ratings in the win. Parker Stewart had two points, not making any of the 3-pointers that are the massive bulk of his role. Miller Kopp made nothing at all. They each had -12 ratings.

Jackson-Davis, in the 11 minutes he played, scored only four points on one made field goal, turned the ball over twice and had four fouls. Easily, it was his worst game of the season. Somehow, IU still beat the No. 4 team in the nation.

Johnson was IU’s only effective starter from a scoring output, dropping 18 points and maybe more notably, not turning the ball over.

More: Yes, IU students stormed the court after beating Purdue. It was 6 years in the making.

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With Jackson-Davis in foul trouble and clearly not 100% healthy after the fall he suffered Monday against Nebraska, Woodson turned to his second unit.

It was Phinisee, Durr, Jordan Geronimo, Trey Galloway and Tamar Bates on the floor. All they did was lock down the No. 1-rated offense by KenPom.

“With (Zach) Edey and (Trevion) Williams, you can't give those guys angles,” Woodson said. “You give them angles, then the ball is coming, and you can't catch up to stop them from scoring. Mike is a big body. I thought he did a good job in battling, trying to keep them in front and making them make plays over the top.”

Those star big men for Purdue combined for 14 points. Edey had 12 of them.

Durr played the type of defense IU desperately needed to stay in the game with two blocks and two steals. Geronimo’s stat line isn’t impressive either, but his defense too helped spark a 21-8 first-half IU run.

Then there was Galloway, too, scoring eight points but maybe no play more important than how clearly he seemed to get under the skin of Purdue star Jaden Ivey.

Geronimo led all IU players with a +17 rating. Phnisee and Galloway each had +15. Bates finished at +11.

They were the ones that carried IU.

They were the ones that ignited thousands of students to the floor in celebration of what had been such an elusive win.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Michael Durr, Rob Phinisee lead IU basketball past Purdue