Indiana–Purdue rivalry

Disputed 1901 game

Indiana and Purdue first met on March 2, 1901, in Bloomington, with a 20–15 Purdue win. Indiana originally planned to play a second game against Purdue in West Lafayette, but according to The Purdue Exponent, the game was "declared off on account of General [Benjamin] Harrison's death."^[9] This was supported by the Arbutus (the Indiana school yearbook) and the 1901 Debris (Purdue's school yearbook).^[10] However, official records of Indiana and Purdue indicate that Indiana lost to Purdue 23–19 in West Lafayette on March 15, 1901.^[11]

1969: Mauling at Mackey

On March 8, 1969, and on their way to the 1969 National Championship game, the Boilermakers trounced the Hoosiers 120–76 behind 40 from Rick Mount and 31 from Billy Keller. Indiana coach Lou Watson remarked after the game, "I'm so glad that's over. That Keller killed us."^[12] The Boilermakers would eventually fall 92–72 to the UCLA Bruins in the 1969 National Championship Game.^[13]

1976: Undefeated season

On February 16, 1976, IU defeated Purdue at Mackey Arena 74–71. This victory was IU's 6th in a row over Purdue. The Indiana Hoosiers would go on to finish the Big Ten undefeated at 18-0 for the second season in a row and win their 4th straight Big Ten Championship. The Indiana Hoosiers would also go on to finish the season undefeated at 32-0 and win the school's 3rd National Championship: no other D-1 basketball program has finished a season undefeated since IU did so in 1976. The Hoosiers only lost one game during the 1974–75 and 1975–76 seasons, which has also not been accomplished by any D-1 program since during a 2-season period.

1979: NIT Championship

Indiana and Purdue met on March 21, 1979, in the final game of the 1979 NIT Championship. Going toe to toe during this game was Indiana star Ray Tolbert, who would go on to receive co-MVP honors for the NIT Tournament. Purdue's Joe Barry Carroll would be the main star for the Boilermakers.^[14] Indiana won 53–52.

1980: NCAA Sweet 16

On March 13, 1980, Indiana faced Purdue in the 1980 NCAA Sweet 16, held in Lexington. Purdue ultimately won the game 76–69. Purdue reached the Final Four before losing to UCLA.^[15] This was Purdue's most recent Final Four appearance until 2024.

1981: "Sucker punch" and jackass feud

In a game at Bloomington on January 31, 1981, the Hoosiers' Isiah Thomas punched Purdue guard Roosevelt Barnes.^[16]

In 1981, Knight used a "jackass" (male donkey) to represent Purdue athletic director George King when he declined to appear on a talk show with him to address derisive chants Knight claimed had been directed at Indiana University and its personnel.^[17][18] The 1980–81 Hoosiers would go on to win the 1981 NCAA National Championship, the school's fourth national title.

1985: Knight chair throwing incident

On February 23, 1985, a scramble for a loose ball resulted in a foul call on Indiana's Steve Alford. Bobby Knight insisted the call should have been for a jump ball and seconds later after the Purdue inbounds, a subsequent foul was called on Daryl Thomas. Knight received a technical foul and then threw a red plastic chair from Indiana's bench across the floor toward the basket and received his 2nd technical. Knight continued until he received a 3rd technical and was ejected from the game by NCAA rule (since then, NCAA rules have changed so that two technical fouls earn an automatic ejection).

Knight was ejected, but he received a standing ovation as he left the floor from the home crowd at Assembly Hall, and the crowd quickly became hostile and dangerous. Fans went so far as to throw coins at the Purdue bench after Knight's ejection. Despite the crowd, Purdue went on to defeat Indiana 72–63 on their way to a 20–9 season, while Indiana finished the year 16–13 and missed the NCAA tournament.

Knight apologized for his actions the next day and was given a one-game suspension and two years probation from the Big Ten. Since the incident, Knight has occasionally joked about throwing the chair. A common joke told by Knight is that he saw an old lady standing on the opposite sideline and threw her the chair so she could sit down. The picture of Knight throwing the red plastic chair across the floor in front of Reid has since become the symbol of the Indiana–Purdue rivalry. Replays of the toss have been shown during nearly every match-up at Mackey Arena since 1985.^[19][20]

1991: Knight tirade

At a practice leading up to an Indiana-Purdue game in 1991, Bob Knight unleashed a torrent of expletives and threats with the intended purpose of motivating his Indiana team. Unknown to most, someone was secretly taping the speech, which went viral and garnered over 1.83 million views on YouTube.^[21] Although the source of who taped the speech remains unknown, many former players suspect it was former manager and current NBA coach Lawrence Frank.^[22] Indiana would go on to beat Purdue 65–62.^[23]

1997: Keady milestone

In a February 18, 1997 game at Bloomington, Purdue won their 4th game in a row against the Hoosiers. It was coach Gene Kaedy's 400th career win.^[24]

2002: Duel in the Dome

The Big Ten had featured an imbalanced conference schedule since increasing to 11 members in 1993, and it finally reached the Indiana–Purdue rivalry as the two were only scheduled for one meeting in each of the 2001–02 and 2002–03 seasons. However, the two schools planned a non-conference game for December 14, 2002, at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis. The game was nicknamed the "Duel in the Dome" and a total of 32,055 Hoosier and Boiler fans filled into the Dome to see the game.

The #7 ranked Hoosiers held off Purdue 66–63 in the game. Indiana jumped out early and led by as many as six points at 17–11 before Purdue used a 12–1 run to go ahead by six points themselves at 27–21. But Indiana closed the gap and at halftime Purdue led 29–27. After only one lead change in the first half, the second half featured 5 ties and 9 lead changes as the teams battled back and forth. Indiana took the lead for good at 50–49 with 5:36 left, but Purdue never trailed by more than five points and the game wasn't over until Jeff Newton stole Purdue's inbound pass with a second left. Newton scored 16 points to lead the Hoosiers, including 9 crucial points in the final three minutes.^[25]

2005: Double overtime

On January 15, 2005, Indiana and Purdue faced off in Mackey Arena. It was Keady's final home game of the rivalry. Purdue had led the entire game until Indiana used a 14–0 run to take a four-point lead with twelve minutes remaining in the second half. The teams battled back and forth until David Teague gave Purdue a 55–52 lead with only 25 seconds remaining. However, Indiana's Marshall Strickland tied the game on a three-point play to send the game into overtime.

In the first overtime, the Hoosiers and Boilermakers were tied at 61 when a foul was called on Purdue's Andrew Ford with 0.9 seconds remaining. Strickland hit two free throws to give Indiana the lead. But Purdue heaved a pass to the opposite end of the court where Carl Landry made a layup and was fouled as he shot. After reviewing the call on video replay, the referees ruled that although Landry had released the shot after the buzzer, he had been fouled before time expired. They allowed continuation and counted the basket. However, Landry ended up missing the ensuing free-throw with no time on the clock, and the teams went to double-overtime tied at 63.^[26]

In the second overtime, Indiana had a 74–70 lead before Teague hit a three-pointer with 5.7 seconds remaining to pull Purdue within one. Bracey Wright then made one free throw for Indiana, and Purdue's Brandon McKnight missed a last-second heave to make the final score 75–73 in favor of the Hoosiers. This was the first, and thus far only, double-overtime game in the history of the Indiana-Purdue basketball series.^[27]

2008: Sampson's finale

^[28]

2017: Tie-breaker for Big Ten titles

On February 27, 2017, No.16 ranked Purdue faced the defending Big Ten Champion but unranked Hoosiers in Mackey Arena. The previous year Indiana won the Big Ten Regular Season Title to join Purdue with 22 conference titles, tied for the most in conference history. Ninety minutes before game time, the pedestrian areas around Mackey Arena were overflowing with bodies and when the gates opened 60 minutes prior to tip the entire student section was filled in minutes. Caleb Swanigan led the way with 21 points with Dakota Mathias adding 19 points to lead Purdue to a 86–75 victory. This victory clinched a share of the Big Ten Conference Championship for Purdue's 23rd all-time title, which put them alone in first place.^[29]

2019: Profane chants game

On February 19, 2019, No. 16 ranked Purdue played unranked Indiana at Assembly Hall in what can only be called a rock-fight of a game. The two teams combined for only 94 points, the lowest combined score in the rivalry since 1950. The game was laced with profane chants from the IU fanbase aimed at Purdue's 7'3" Sophomore Matt Haarms, after Haarms was involved in two loose ball battles with De'Ron Davis and received a technical foul on the second scuffle. The chants could be heard clearly on the TV and radio broadcast with the fan base yelling "F--- You Haarms". As the defensive struggle continued, and the game tied at 46 a piece, Purdue put the ball in the hands of their All-American Junior Guard Carsen Edwards who struggled all night from the field. With 5 seconds remaining, his shot went off the back heel and Matt Haarms rose over Indiana's Juwan Morgan and tipped the rebound back in with his left hand for the game winner with 3.1 seconds remaining.

After the game, IU athletic director Fred Glass called his counterpart at Purdue, Mike Bobinski, and apologized for the profane chants. Former Indiana great Alan Henderson also weighed in on the controversy via Twitter to say "we should not hear curse chants at opponents, that's not what Indiana basketball is about." Purdue would go on to win a share of the Big Ten Conference Title for their league-leading 24th title.^[30]