Indiana men’s basketball is set for the second game of the annual rivalry series against Purdue, this one being tonight at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette.
The Hoosiers, sitting firmly on the right side of the bubble as of now, are still battling for a more secure NCAA Tournament spot. The Boilermakers have turned a corner since the 72-67 loss at Assembly Hall back in January, going 4-1 with a lone loss to Michigan.
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Here’s five things to know ahead of tipoff:
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Purdue’s beatable at home, but not in a way Indiana has shown it’s capable of. The Boilers have fallen to Iowa State, Illinois and Michigan at home this season. The Cyclones are an elite defensive team, the Fighting Illini defense held firm as Keaton Wagler went off and the Wolverines’ size proved overwhelming. Indiana’s defense isn’t enough to smother like Iowa State’s, it’d need a perfect performance to replicate what Illinois did and lacks the size to win matchups all over the court like Michigan. If Indiana wants to win this, it needs to find its own way.
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The Boilers struggle guarding the perimeter. Opponents take more than their fair share of 3-pointers against Purdue and convert on 33% of those attempts, just below the national Division-I average. The Hoosiers capitalized on this in the first matchup with a 3-point barrage, but Purdue has had a chance to tighten things up and it’s gonna be a harder ask on the road.
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Purdue’s seniors are playing for some pride tonight. The trio of Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer and Trey Kaufman-Renn has accomplished about as much as any senior class in the Boilermakers’ history, but they own a 3-4 record against the Hoosiers on their career. Going .500 is a lot better than a losing record.
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The Boilermakers’ frontcourt will almost certainly play better than the first game. Trey Kaufman-Renn led Purdue with 23 points but had just three rebounds while Oscar Cluff scored only 2 points with six rebounds. Kaufman-Renn averages nine rebounds per game and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he makes an extra point of battling for boards at home.
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Purdue doesn’t shoot free throws or foul on defense. The Boilermakers play a very watchable brand of ball that doesn’t involve lots of trips to the free-throw line, a bit surprisingly given two reliable post scorers. They also don’t foul a lot defensively. The Hoosiers, on the other hand, do so quite a bit.
