Good evening Ladies & Gentlemen. Tonight, it's the biggest game of the year in the conference race as the #8-ranked Purdue Boilermakers enter the Kohl Center in Madison Wisconsin to take on the #10-ranked Wisconsin Badgers. Tip-off is scheduled for around 9:00 pm (Eastern) with television coverage on ESPN. Wisconsin leads Purdue and Illinois in the standings, and a win for the Badgers likely wraps up the regular season title with one game remaining. A Boilers' victory would set up a possible two or three-way co-championship involving Wisconsin, Purdue, and Illinois. Wisconsin has won four straight and is coming off an impressive road win at Rutgers. Purdue is coming off a disappointing last-second loss at Michigan State, which dropped them a game back in the standings.
These two teams met in early January with Wisconsin winning a tough hard-fought game on the road, 74-69. Johnny Davis had a career high 37 points in that contest, and he is certainly to be a focal point of Wisconsin's attack tonight. Purdue will certainly try to contain him and hopefully make it more difficult to score than the last time around. If Davis has his way again, with how Wisconsin's front court has come around, the Boilers are likely to be in trouble. The first game was a physical affair, and I expect the same tonight. The Boilers will need to do a better job than back in January, when they weren't quite able to match the Badgers' physicality - especially down the stretch over the last four minutes of that game. That means fighting through the adversity.....call or no call.....play on, and don't let it affect the next possession.....and so on.
Purdue will also need to keep on eye on Tyler Wahl, who has come on of late - scoring double figures in 8 of the last nine games.....he was in foul trouble in the first meeting. If Zach Edey and Trevion Williams can do that again, that will certainly help. Look for Davison and Hepburn to feed off of the attention to Johnny Davis - this game could very well come down to what they provide from the perimeter.
For the Boilers on offense, Jaden Ivey needs to be on the court as much as possible - he was limited to 28 minutes with some foul trouble. I would expect Wisconsin is going to again play physical in the paint and force Purdue's frontcourt to make some plays. There should be more opportunities from the outside than with Michigan State, but Purdue will have to work the offense to get them, and that includes Jaden Ivey making the right read/play. Purdue absolutely has to get better production from Sasha Stefanovic this game - he was limited on Saturday and also went 1-5 from beyond the arc in the first game with Wisconsin. Eric Hunter, Jr, Ethan Morton, and Isaiah Thompson should also get some limited opportunities as well - they'll need to produce. I like the possibility of what Eric Hunter, Jr. might be able to do in this game - he is playing much better than early January.
As for the other keys - it really comes down to keeping it simple for the Boilers......as always, maintain possession edge on the glass, limit the turnovers, make FT's, and get after the loose balls. I give the slight edge to Wisconsin because of the home venue and because they've been lights out in close games - the most consecutive wins in games decided by six points or less in the last 35 years. Purdue is very capable of ending that streak tonight - but the Boilers will have to play their absolute best game to do it in a hostile environment with the conference title on the line. Embrace the opportunity and the challenge - play to their maximum effort - and it's all in front of them.....easier said than done, though.
It's been a roller coaster of a season at times - some great and even spectacular play along with some inconsistent stretches that even a very talented team couldn't overcome. Some questions still linger......tonight, we'll get some answers......and hopefully for Purdue, they are the right ones.
We shall see.......
Boiler up, my friends.
These two teams met in early January with Wisconsin winning a tough hard-fought game on the road, 74-69. Johnny Davis had a career high 37 points in that contest, and he is certainly to be a focal point of Wisconsin's attack tonight. Purdue will certainly try to contain him and hopefully make it more difficult to score than the last time around. If Davis has his way again, with how Wisconsin's front court has come around, the Boilers are likely to be in trouble. The first game was a physical affair, and I expect the same tonight. The Boilers will need to do a better job than back in January, when they weren't quite able to match the Badgers' physicality - especially down the stretch over the last four minutes of that game. That means fighting through the adversity.....call or no call.....play on, and don't let it affect the next possession.....and so on.
Purdue will also need to keep on eye on Tyler Wahl, who has come on of late - scoring double figures in 8 of the last nine games.....he was in foul trouble in the first meeting. If Zach Edey and Trevion Williams can do that again, that will certainly help. Look for Davison and Hepburn to feed off of the attention to Johnny Davis - this game could very well come down to what they provide from the perimeter.
For the Boilers on offense, Jaden Ivey needs to be on the court as much as possible - he was limited to 28 minutes with some foul trouble. I would expect Wisconsin is going to again play physical in the paint and force Purdue's frontcourt to make some plays. There should be more opportunities from the outside than with Michigan State, but Purdue will have to work the offense to get them, and that includes Jaden Ivey making the right read/play. Purdue absolutely has to get better production from Sasha Stefanovic this game - he was limited on Saturday and also went 1-5 from beyond the arc in the first game with Wisconsin. Eric Hunter, Jr, Ethan Morton, and Isaiah Thompson should also get some limited opportunities as well - they'll need to produce. I like the possibility of what Eric Hunter, Jr. might be able to do in this game - he is playing much better than early January.
As for the other keys - it really comes down to keeping it simple for the Boilers......as always, maintain possession edge on the glass, limit the turnovers, make FT's, and get after the loose balls. I give the slight edge to Wisconsin because of the home venue and because they've been lights out in close games - the most consecutive wins in games decided by six points or less in the last 35 years. Purdue is very capable of ending that streak tonight - but the Boilers will have to play their absolute best game to do it in a hostile environment with the conference title on the line. Embrace the opportunity and the challenge - play to their maximum effort - and it's all in front of them.....easier said than done, though.
It's been a roller coaster of a season at times - some great and even spectacular play along with some inconsistent stretches that even a very talented team couldn't overcome. Some questions still linger......tonight, we'll get some answers......and hopefully for Purdue, they are the right ones.
We shall see.......
Boiler up, my friends.
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