Well Ladies and Gentlemen....are you ready for some Friday evening Big Ten basketball? Tonight, the Boilers invade the Breslin Center in East Lansing to take on the Michigan State Spartans in what shapes up to be another spirited, competitive battle. Scheduled tip-off coming up @ 7:00 pm (Eastern time) with television coverage on FS1.
The schedule has not been kind to Purdue lately. This will be the Boilers' fourth straight road game against a ranked conference foe as Michigan State is @ #23.....this after already facing Iowa, Rutgers, and Illinois away from home. In addition, Purdue's scheduled home game against Nebraska was postponed earlier this week.
Michigan State got off to a rocky start in conference play, dropping its first three games, but has righted the ship a little bit, including a 68-45 beating of Rutgers earlier in the week. Working in some newcomers and feeling the graduation loss of Cassius Winston has probably contributed to the Spartans' slow start, but make no mistake, they have plenty of weapons. Even though it appears they may have some shortcomings this season, Tom Izzo will have them being a tough opponent as the season goes on.....I expect they will attack Purdue's defense, and the Boilers need to be ready. They'll also need to try to limit the drives of the Spartan wings, stay tough on the glass, and work their advantages - get some inside action, and work the opportunities for good shots. If Trevion Williams can continue to stay out of foul trouble, and the Boilers limit the turnovers, I'll think they'll be right there in the second half.
They've shown some promise and played some really good conference teams tough.....however, all they have to show on the scoreboard are three losses. If they want to finish in the top half of the league or better, they've got to make the plays down the stretch to break through. Both teams are @ 2-3, so neither can really afford a fourth loss this early in the conference slate. Is this the night the young Boilers put it together for a big road win? We shall see.
Boiler up, my friends.
The schedule has not been kind to Purdue lately. This will be the Boilers' fourth straight road game against a ranked conference foe as Michigan State is @ #23.....this after already facing Iowa, Rutgers, and Illinois away from home. In addition, Purdue's scheduled home game against Nebraska was postponed earlier this week.
Michigan State got off to a rocky start in conference play, dropping its first three games, but has righted the ship a little bit, including a 68-45 beating of Rutgers earlier in the week. Working in some newcomers and feeling the graduation loss of Cassius Winston has probably contributed to the Spartans' slow start, but make no mistake, they have plenty of weapons. Even though it appears they may have some shortcomings this season, Tom Izzo will have them being a tough opponent as the season goes on.....I expect they will attack Purdue's defense, and the Boilers need to be ready. They'll also need to try to limit the drives of the Spartan wings, stay tough on the glass, and work their advantages - get some inside action, and work the opportunities for good shots. If Trevion Williams can continue to stay out of foul trouble, and the Boilers limit the turnovers, I'll think they'll be right there in the second half.
They've shown some promise and played some really good conference teams tough.....however, all they have to show on the scoreboard are three losses. If they want to finish in the top half of the league or better, they've got to make the plays down the stretch to break through. Both teams are @ 2-3, so neither can really afford a fourth loss this early in the conference slate. Is this the night the young Boilers put it together for a big road win? We shall see.
Boiler up, my friends.
