Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Today, the #3-ranked Purdue Boilermakers (24-3; 13-3) visit Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor to take on the Michigan Wolverines (8-19; 3-13). Tip is scheduled for approximately 2:00 pm (Eastern time) with television coverage on CBS.
Projected Starting Line-ups:
Purdue - Zach Edey, Trey Kaufman-Renn, Lance Jones, Fletcher Loyer, and Braden Smith
Michigan - Tray Jackson, Tarris Reed Jr., Terrance Williams II, Dug McDaniel, and Nimari Burnett
This is the second regular season match-up between the schools. Purdue won the previous game last month, 99-67. That game was on the road for Michigan, and Dug McDaniel did not play as he was suspended for road games due to academic issues. He is Michigan's leading scorer with 16.6 points per game and also leads the team with 4.6 assists per contest. His presence in the line-up will be a boost for Michigan as he has scored 10 or more in his last seven games. Olivier Nkamhoua is the Wolverines' top interior player, but he is now out for the season with a wrist injury. That's a big loss in a match-up with a front-court like Purdue's led by Zach Edey.
The top shooter is Terrance Williams II with 46 made 3-pt FG's on 40.0% shooting from beyond the arc. Williams is the final scorer in double figures as he averages 12.4 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. Nirmani Burnett and Jaelin Llewellyn will likely need to provide more scoring with Nkamhoua out. Burnett averages 9.7 points per game as a senior.
Michigan is currently ranked 110th overall according to KenPom. They rank 82nd in offensive efficiency and 167th in defensive efficiency. Michigan plays at a similar pace as Purdue, the Wolverines rank 195th in pace of play to Purdue's 174th.
This is the 3rd Sunday out of four in February for Purdue on the road, and the second last true road game of the season. Although the Boilers have an advantage in the match-up and Michigan has had a very disappointing season, no games are guarantees. Purdue can just look back a week and see what can happen on the road if you don't play at a consistently good level and allow a team to get some confidence on its home court. Also, McDaniel is the type of player who can get hot and score even in the face of good defense. After a few early mistakes last time out against Rutgers, the Boilers really played well and had one of their best shooting games in a while, dispatching a very good defense 96-68.
Let's see if the Boilers can duplicate some of that efficiency and good shooting on the road. If they execute better than last weekend and make some of their opportunities, they should be in pretty good shape.....but you never know for sure. Can the Boilers keep on track? A win puts them another step closer to the conference regular season title.
We shall see how they do, starting in a couple hours or so.
Boiler Up, my friends....