No. 5 Purdue Can Clinch League-Leading 25th Big Ten Title With Win Over IU Saturday Night In Mackey
The fifth-ranked Boilermakers are on the verge of capturing their league-leading 25th Big Ten Championship and could do so with a win over rival Indiana Saturday night in Mackey Arena.
With three Big Ten regular-season games remaining, Purdue, 24-4 overall, 13-4 in the conference, has a two-game lead over second-place Northwestern after the Wildcats blew a double-digit lead and lost last night at Illinois.
Tomorrow’s Purdue-IU game will tip at 7:30 p.m. and will be televised nationally by FOX (Gus Johnson and Jim Jackson have the call).
Earlier this month, the 17th-ranked Hoosiers (19-9, 10-7) knocked off top-ranked Purdue by five points (79-74) in Assembly Hall.
It was the second year in a row IU beat Purdue in Assembly Hall and the second straight year Hoosier fans stormed the court after beating their arch rival.
The rematch will mark the first time since 1994 that both Purdue and IU are ranked in the top 20 and playing in Mackey.
The game will feature a pair of soon-to-be first-team All-Americans in national player of the year frontrunner Zach Edey and IU’s Trayce Jackson-Davis.
Edey and Jackson-Davis were magnificent when they met three weeks ago.
Despite some early foul trouble, Edey poured in 33 points, grabbed 18 rebounds and had three blocks.
Indiana coach Mike Woodson admits Edey is tough to handle.
“He’s a tough matchup, man,” Woodson said. “He is a nightmare for a lot of teams. Not just us.
“You can’t give him angles because he is good with both hands at making plays. He is good. That’s all I can tell you. I like him.”
TJD, who last Saturday announced he will head for the NBA after this season even though he has another year of college eligibility remaining, was really good against Purdue, too. He scored 25 points on 9-of-19 shooting, had seven rebounds and five blocks.
Purdue coach Matt Painter said Jackson-Davis was great the first time around.
“He runs out on the break so well, he’s so fast that you have to pick him up and not get that run-out dunk or layup at that time,” Painter said. “So I think everybody will have a chance at him and be able to guard him, but that’s a team deal.
“When you have a player as great as Trayce Jackson-Davis, that’s your whole team approach. Being able to stop him, but not at the expense of other people just getting wide-open looks. If you overdo it, he’ll make you pay with his passing. If you don’t do enough, he’ll steamroll you like he did in the first half against us.”
In the first meeting, Purdue dug itself a deep first-half hole thanks to turnovers. The Boilermakers had 16 turnovers (11 in the first 20 minutes), their highest total since November.
Nonetheless, after trailing by 15 points at halftime, they were only down one point with two minutes left in the game.
Purdue freshman Fletcher Loyer was the only other Boilermaker to score in double figures in the first meeting against the Hoosiers. He finished with a dozen points, but missed 5-of-6 three-pointers.
Loyer’s backcourt mate, freshman Braden Smith struggled mightily. He was just 1-of-8 from the floor and scored four points. Smith did have six assists, one turnover and three steals.
Purdue was just 6-of-18 (33.3 percent) from downtown.
The Boilermakers outrebounded the Hoosiers by 15, but had nine more turnovers which proved to be extremely costly.
Not only did turnovers hurt Purdue’s cause, but poor foul shooting did it in.
The Boilermakers went 10-of-17 from the charity stripe, while the Hoosiers knocked down 15-of-18.
No doubt Mackey Arena will be rocking per usually and at an even more deafening pitch with the Cream and Crimson in town and a shot at winning a Big Ten title on the line.
To say the least, tickets have been awfully tough to come by for the rematch.
On Stubhub.com, fans can purchase nosebleeds for $300-plus and lower arena seats will cost you more than $1,000 per ticket.
Mackey, known as one of the most intimidating venues for opposing teams in college basketball, has been a house of horrors for IU.
After all, the Hoosiers haven’t won on Keady Court in over a decade (Jan. 30, 2013). IU has dropped its last seven games in West Lafayette.
When looking at the all-time series, Purdue has had the upper hand, enjoying a 125-91 lead over their rival to the south. The Boilermakers have defeated the Hoosiers in 10 of the last 12 meetings and 15 of the last 18 dating to 2014.
A win over IU won’t only clinch at least a tie for the Big Ten championship, but would move Purdue to within one victory of locking up the No. 1 seed for the upcoming conference tournament in Chicago.
If the Boilermakers win the Big Ten outright (they play at Wisconsin and host Illinois after the date with IU), they would be no worse than a No. 2 seed in next month’s NCAA Tournament and have an excellent shot at one of the four No. 1 seeds.
The Hoosiers have three regular-season games remaining, including the game at Purdue. IU needs to finish strong if it is to secure a double bye in the Big Ten Tournament.
There’s plenty at stake in tomorrow night’s game and for those lucky enough to get tickets you better bring earplugs because the noise level will be off the charts.
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