Thirsty no more

 Of course they stormed the court. You beat Those People from West Lafayette for the first time in ten tries, in a state where beating 'em in basketball still means a hell of a lot more than beating them in football, it's just what you do.

And so Jaden Ivey's shot at forcing overtime flicked off the glass, spun around the iron and fell off, and the rush was on. Indiana 68, No. 4 Purdue 65, y'all. And the Assembly Hall floor disappeared beneath a blanket of yowling humanity.

This was the first signature W for Mike Woodson, who knows all about both beating and losing to the Purdues. And its signature moment, embossed for all time, happened when Rob Phinisee took the inbounds pass, got a thudding screen from Race Thompson, and drifted to the corner, where he launched a 3-pointer for the ages.

There were, what, 17 seconds to play? And down the well Phinisee's shot splashed, taking Indiana from 65-63 down to 66-65 up, ahead for keeps. 

Watford For The Win, meet Phinisee With The Phinisher.

And, sure, there was irony in the fact it was Phinisee the Lafayette guy who hit the dagger three to take down his hometown school, but there was maybe more irony in the fact it was a Lafayette guy who so often couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat. His shooting struggles are by now legendary, and a big reason why he comes off the bench now in Bloomington.

But rivalry games frequently put their full weight on the most unlikely of heroes, and so there you go. IU All-American Trayce Jackson-Davis got in heavy foul trouble early, played just 11 minutes and scored four points; Rob Phinisee came off the pine to play 26 minutes, make 8-of-13 shots and 4-of-7 from the arc, and score 20 points.

The last time Phinisee scored 20 points in an Indiana uniform?

Try "never." His previous high was 18, and the second and last time he did that was almost a year ago to the day, on Jan. 21, 2021, against Iowa.

Perhaps it's giving more credit than is due, but maybe it took Mike Woodson to bring Thursday night out in him. Maybe it took a guy who fought the Purdues tooth-and-nail back in the day to get Indiana to fight them tooth-and-nail again. And certainly, last night, it took Woodson's kids to give Candy Stripe Nation something to brag about besides those five championship banners -- ancient as the Bayeux Tapestry at this point, and calling to mind not Rob Phinisee but some musty triumph waged by medieval knights.

Speaking of droughts. 

Of which one, finally, is over, its survivors thirsty no more.