Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Today's battle shapes up to be a really good one, as the top-ranked Purdue Boilermakers travel to Bloomington to take on the #21-ranked Indiana Hoosiers. Purdue has fared very well on the road in conference play so far, but this is likely the sternest test of all of them this year. Even though the Hoosiers are not at completely full strength, they're a very good team and have been playing well of late. They're coming off a loss at Maryland earlier this week, and Purdue knocked off Penn State at home earlier this week.
Expected Starting Line-ups:
Purdue - Caleb Furst, Zach Edey, Ethan Morton, Fletcher Loyer, and Braden Smith
Indiana - Trayce Jackson-Davis, Miller Kopp, Race Thompson, Trey Galloway, and Jalen Hood Schifino
Indiana on offense poses some match-up issues for Purdue. Trayce Jackson-Davis is one of the best front-court players in the NCAA and will score primarily in and around the paint - I expect Purdue to start with Caleb Furst on him and will definitely rotate to him at times - try to limit his touches, make him uncomfortable. He'll score, but the Boilers want him to be one-dimensional if at all possible and also not send him to the FT line. He's an underrated passer, so the attention he gets will open up other Indiana player opportunities. Purdue will need to rotate and close out well on the perimeter. Look for Purdue to also try and crowd Jalen Hood-Schifino - he's a very capable scorer - inside and outside. He struggled @ Maryland, so expect him to have a strong shooting game today. Purdue also needs to keep Indiana off the offensive glass - can't afford giving the Hoosiers extra opportunities.
One would expect Indiana will likely try to pressure Purdue's back-court to disrupt the Boiler offense. It will be very interesting how Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer handle it. When the ball does get to Zach Edey, I think you'll see them try to give him a variety of looks and push him out from the block. Trayce Jackson Davis will also be a key for Indiana to try and control the defensive glass on their end. Purdue will get some looks from outside - can they continue the better shooting we've seen the last month? It would go a long way for them today.
Indiana is also pretty potent in transition, so Purdue will have to be mindful of that and try to avoid long-rebound and turnover run-outs or break opportunities.
How well do the Boilers handle Indiana's pressure in a very tough road venue? Can they limit the turnovers and maintain a rebounding edge? Can they play with intensity for the full 40 minutes and outplay Indiana? Answer those in the affirmative and shoot reasonably well and they have a really good chance to take this one. But, this will be a supreme test for Purdue.
Can they take another big step forward in the conference race?
We shall see starting in a couple of hours or so.
Boiler Up, my friends.
