MINNEAPOLIS - Greetings from Minnesota, where Purdue is looking to keep going its four-game winning streak today.
This is the first repeat opponent of the season for the Boilermakers and these two teams are in different places than they were for the Big Ten opener, when the Boilermakers won the second half en route to a 72-68 win in Mackey Arena.
Purdue is playing entirely different defense than it was then. Rapheal Davis and A.J. Hammons are playing at a much higher level all-around then they were at that point as well.
Kendall Stephens, who had 19 against the Gophers the first time around, not so much. He's really out of sorts right now.
Meanwhile, Minnesota - which came into Mackey with just two losses against 11 wins back at the start of the conference season, has lost seven of its 10 Big Ten outings, including a bunch of close games on its home floor.
Minnesota has not shot the ball as well in conference games as it did in non-conference and point guard DeAndre Mathieu has been very average in conference play, shooting only 39 percent with an almost even assist-turnover ratio. Not good.
But the equalizer here could be homecourt as is almost always the case in the Big Ten.
Minnesota's very capable. Andre Hollins can really score, but Davis has stifled players like him all season. Carlos Morris can score too and no matter how he's played in Big Ten, Mathieu's quickness is scary.
Maurice Walker and Elliott Eliason are both solid players, Walker one of the better centers in the Big Ten. He's no Hammons right now, but he can do some damage if Purdue is not careful.
There's a lot of anti-Purdue sentiment out there today, whether it's the spread (which I think are meaningless, by the way) and KenPom's apparent 69-percent chances of a Minnesota win.
But I cover Purdue and have watched them play well the last four games. It's really hard to pick against them right.
But here is what Purdue has to do:
Offensive boards: Walker and Eliason can be a problem here and Purdue has to do a better job covering for Hammons when he comes out to challenge shots.
Transition: Minnesota will pressure. Purdue would seem well equipped to handle it, especially now that they've seen it already. Purdue will need to keep the Gophers out of easy offense off mistakes and be solid when it finds numbers itself. Purdue has been an effective transition team lately but has still botched the occasional 2-on-1.
The Boilermakers will not want to give up easy baskets. Worse comes to worse: Make a 67-percent foul-shooting team make free throws.
Again, I like Purdue's chances simply because of how it's defending right now, but we'll see. The Boilermakers are playing well right now, but the last team who came here, Nebraska, left with an 18-point loss.
And Minnesota has had a week to prepare. Sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes not so much.
We'll talk to you afterwards provided we don't fall from our overhang seating to our deaths during the game. Assuming that does not happen, we'll have out game story, post-game video, blog and Wrap Video after.
Discuss the game here or wherever.
This is the first repeat opponent of the season for the Boilermakers and these two teams are in different places than they were for the Big Ten opener, when the Boilermakers won the second half en route to a 72-68 win in Mackey Arena.
Purdue is playing entirely different defense than it was then. Rapheal Davis and A.J. Hammons are playing at a much higher level all-around then they were at that point as well.
Kendall Stephens, who had 19 against the Gophers the first time around, not so much. He's really out of sorts right now.
Meanwhile, Minnesota - which came into Mackey with just two losses against 11 wins back at the start of the conference season, has lost seven of its 10 Big Ten outings, including a bunch of close games on its home floor.
Minnesota has not shot the ball as well in conference games as it did in non-conference and point guard DeAndre Mathieu has been very average in conference play, shooting only 39 percent with an almost even assist-turnover ratio. Not good.
But the equalizer here could be homecourt as is almost always the case in the Big Ten.
Minnesota's very capable. Andre Hollins can really score, but Davis has stifled players like him all season. Carlos Morris can score too and no matter how he's played in Big Ten, Mathieu's quickness is scary.
Maurice Walker and Elliott Eliason are both solid players, Walker one of the better centers in the Big Ten. He's no Hammons right now, but he can do some damage if Purdue is not careful.
There's a lot of anti-Purdue sentiment out there today, whether it's the spread (which I think are meaningless, by the way) and KenPom's apparent 69-percent chances of a Minnesota win.
But I cover Purdue and have watched them play well the last four games. It's really hard to pick against them right.
But here is what Purdue has to do:
Offensive boards: Walker and Eliason can be a problem here and Purdue has to do a better job covering for Hammons when he comes out to challenge shots.
Transition: Minnesota will pressure. Purdue would seem well equipped to handle it, especially now that they've seen it already. Purdue will need to keep the Gophers out of easy offense off mistakes and be solid when it finds numbers itself. Purdue has been an effective transition team lately but has still botched the occasional 2-on-1.
The Boilermakers will not want to give up easy baskets. Worse comes to worse: Make a 67-percent foul-shooting team make free throws.
Again, I like Purdue's chances simply because of how it's defending right now, but we'll see. The Boilermakers are playing well right now, but the last team who came here, Nebraska, left with an 18-point loss.
And Minnesota has had a week to prepare. Sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes not so much.
We'll talk to you afterwards provided we don't fall from our overhang seating to our deaths during the game. Assuming that does not happen, we'll have out game story, post-game video, blog and Wrap Video after.
Discuss the game here or wherever.
