The Wildcats invade Mackey Arena this evening for the first of two meetings with the Boilers this year, and the Boilers only home game in this current five-game stretch, where Purdue is 1-1.
A little trivia: This is the 172nd meeting between the teams, but the first with both schools ranked in the AP poll.
Purdue enters the game with a 17-5 overall mark and a 6-3 record in the conference. The Boilers lead the conference in scoring offense, scoring margin, assists, 3-point percentage and 3-pointers made per game. Purdue has been hot from beyond the arc, connecting on 25 3-pointers over the last two games and shooting 50.0 percent from 3-point range over the last four contests.
Although somewhat short-handed, Northwestern is looking to continue its hot streak having won six straight. The Wildcats are 18-4, 7-2 (conference) in third place. The 7-2 Big Ten start is the school's best since the 1937-38 team also started 7-2. The Wildcats also lead the conference in field goal percentage defense (38.3), 3-point field goal percentage defense (30.7) and are second in scoring defense (63.7).
Interesting thoughts from Dakota Mathias:
"I think you could see this coming a few years ago. They have a good group of juniors. McIntosh, Law and Lindsey all are very versatile. They can dribble, pass and shoot, and even at this level, not a lot of guys can do that. I think the challenge for us in this game is defending their ball screens. They are good at pick and roll, and the high ball screens spread you out. They are a very good, well-coached team. They play well together and are a very unselfish team."
Purdue will need to be especially patient/disciplined on both ends of the floor, and they need to shake off the rust/execution problems that have plagued them in their three conference losses. This should be a competitive contest, but with Northwestern missing Lindsey, the Boilers should be able to break through and hang on to very slim regular season title hopes. Maryland awaits this weekend.
Boiler up, my friends.
A little trivia: This is the 172nd meeting between the teams, but the first with both schools ranked in the AP poll.
Purdue enters the game with a 17-5 overall mark and a 6-3 record in the conference. The Boilers lead the conference in scoring offense, scoring margin, assists, 3-point percentage and 3-pointers made per game. Purdue has been hot from beyond the arc, connecting on 25 3-pointers over the last two games and shooting 50.0 percent from 3-point range over the last four contests.
Although somewhat short-handed, Northwestern is looking to continue its hot streak having won six straight. The Wildcats are 18-4, 7-2 (conference) in third place. The 7-2 Big Ten start is the school's best since the 1937-38 team also started 7-2. The Wildcats also lead the conference in field goal percentage defense (38.3), 3-point field goal percentage defense (30.7) and are second in scoring defense (63.7).
Interesting thoughts from Dakota Mathias:
"I think you could see this coming a few years ago. They have a good group of juniors. McIntosh, Law and Lindsey all are very versatile. They can dribble, pass and shoot, and even at this level, not a lot of guys can do that. I think the challenge for us in this game is defending their ball screens. They are good at pick and roll, and the high ball screens spread you out. They are a very good, well-coached team. They play well together and are a very unselfish team."
Purdue will need to be especially patient/disciplined on both ends of the floor, and they need to shake off the rust/execution problems that have plagued them in their three conference losses. This should be a competitive contest, but with Northwestern missing Lindsey, the Boilers should be able to break through and hang on to very slim regular season title hopes. Maryland awaits this weekend.
Boiler up, my friends.
