It's an early afternoon game on the road, this Saturday as the #3-ranked Purdue Boilermakers travel to Happy Valley to take on the Penn State Nittany Lions in another key conference game. Tip coming up @ noon (Eastern) with television coverage on the Big Ten Network. The Boilers, who will drop in the rankings come Monday, are coming off a home loss to Wisconsin earlier this week and stand at a disappointing 1-2 in conference play. Penn State is 2-2, having won its last two after a three-game cancellation stretch due to COVID concerns.
If the Boilers are going to get back in the thick of the conference race, they'll need to get back on track with playing better/smarter basketball, starting today. During conference play, Purdue's shooting has been down, and the defense has been inconsistent at best. Former Purdue assistant, Micah Shrewsberry, coaches Penn State, and you can expect that he'll have part of his strategy ready to probe/exploit Purdue's shortcomings. On the court, the Niitany Lions have been anchored by Seth Lundy and John Harrar, who have combined to score 25.6 points per contest. Harrar can be a force on the glass if the Boilers aren't focused on him.
I expect this to be another spirited and competitive game - Penn State will battle, and the Boilers better be ready to match that intensity on both ends of the floor. I'd like to see Jaden Ivey get back to what he was doing earlier in the season with decision making in transition. Can Sasha Stefanovic have a break-out game away from Mackey? Can the Boilers get better production from the bench other than from the center position? Can Purdue get some momentum from its defensive effort today? Will Ethan Morton continue to get more playing time? A lot of questions, and hopefully the Boilers have some good answers.
It's still early January, but another loss today, and the season starts to unravel a little bit. Now, Purdue has won the last three games played at the Bryce Jordan Center. Can the Boilers make it four straight and get back to .500 in conference play? We shall see......
Boiler up, my friends.
If the Boilers are going to get back in the thick of the conference race, they'll need to get back on track with playing better/smarter basketball, starting today. During conference play, Purdue's shooting has been down, and the defense has been inconsistent at best. Former Purdue assistant, Micah Shrewsberry, coaches Penn State, and you can expect that he'll have part of his strategy ready to probe/exploit Purdue's shortcomings. On the court, the Niitany Lions have been anchored by Seth Lundy and John Harrar, who have combined to score 25.6 points per contest. Harrar can be a force on the glass if the Boilers aren't focused on him.
I expect this to be another spirited and competitive game - Penn State will battle, and the Boilers better be ready to match that intensity on both ends of the floor. I'd like to see Jaden Ivey get back to what he was doing earlier in the season with decision making in transition. Can Sasha Stefanovic have a break-out game away from Mackey? Can the Boilers get better production from the bench other than from the center position? Can Purdue get some momentum from its defensive effort today? Will Ethan Morton continue to get more playing time? A lot of questions, and hopefully the Boilers have some good answers.
It's still early January, but another loss today, and the season starts to unravel a little bit. Now, Purdue has won the last three games played at the Bryce Jordan Center. Can the Boilers make it four straight and get back to .500 in conference play? We shall see......
Boiler up, my friends.
