Eric Hunter Jr. scored 19 points Tuesday night as Purdue led nearly wire-to-wire in a 77-68 win over No. 18 Iowa in Iowa City, completing a surprising season sweep.
Evan Boudreaux added 14 points and a game-high 14 rebounds for the Boilermakers (16-14, 9-10 Big Ten), and Jahaad Proctor chipped in 12 points. Boudreaux grabbed seven of Purdue's 21 offensive boards, enabling it to control the rebounding battle to the tune of 47-33.
National Player of the Year candidate Luka Garza scored a game-high 26 points and hauled in 12 rebounds for Iowa (20-10, 11-8), marking his 15th straight game with at least 20 points. Joe Wieskamp added 10 for the Hawkeyes, who made just 9 of 29 first-half shots and couldn't trim the margin under 10 points in the second half until Wieskamp's meaningless layup with 12 seconds left.
Both teams converted less than 40 percent from the field, but the Boilermakers gave themselves 11 extra shots because of their ability to crash the boards. They also tallied 25 points off 15 Iowa turnovers and carved out a 20-9 advantage in second-chance points, providing more than enough cushion to ruin the Hawkeyes' senior night.
After setting a single-game school record with 19 3-pointers in a 104-68 rout of Iowa on Feb. 5, Purdue used a different method to win the rematch. It pounded the glass hard and cashed in almost every Hawkeyes turnover into points.
The Boilermakers led for the game's final 37:36, scoring eight straight points to take an 11-4 lead on a Matt Haarms putback at the 15:32 mark. It got much worse before it got better for Iowa.
Purdue gradually expanded its margin until it reached 42-21 with 1:52 left in the half, as Proctor converted his steal into a layup. While the Hawkeyes ended the half with a bit of momentum as Wieskamp nailed a jumper with two seconds left, they still trailed 42-25 at intermission.
--Field Level Media
Purdue | Iowa | |
Eric Hunter Jr. 19 | Scoring | Luka Garza 26 |
Nojel Eastern 6 | Assists | CJ Fredrick 5 |
Evan Boudreaux 14 | Rebounds | Luka Garza 12 |
Eric Hunter Jr. 7 | Free Throws Made | Luka Garza 6 |
Eric Hunter Jr. 3 | Steals | Luka Garza 4 |
Matt Haarms 3 | Blocks | Luka Garza 4 |