Much has changed since Indiana and Purdue met less than three weeks ago.
While the Boilermakers left Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall with a victory, they have not won a game since. Meanwhile, Indiana has won three of its last four contests and appears to be turning a corner at just the right time.
But one thing that hasn’t changed is Purdue’s control of the head-to-head series with Indiana.
The Boilermakers have won six straight against the Hoosiers and nine of the last ten contests. IU has not won a game at Mackey Arena since 2013.
As IU and Purdue get set to meet for the 211th time, Indiana will be looking to not only change the narrative against their rival, but also continue its push towards a first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2016.
GAME DAY ESSENTIALS
Indiana (18-9, 8-8) at Purdue (14-14, 7-10)
- Tip time: Thursday / 7 p.m. ET
- Location: Mackey Arena (14,240), West Lafayette, Ind.
- Television: FS1 (Stream)
- Series: Purdue leads 121-89 (Last meeting: Purdue won 74-62 in 2020 at Indiana)
- Point Spread: Vegas has Purdue by 6 points. KenPom likes Purdue by 5 points.
- Tickets (Seat Geek affiliate link)
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Purdue Statistical Leaders
POINTS
- Trevion Williams (F) 11.4 ppg
- Eric Hunter, Jr. (G) 10.0 ppg
REBOUNDS
- Trevion Williams (F) 7.7 rpg
- Matt Haarms (C) 4.5 rpg
ASSISTS
- Eric Hunter, Jr. (G) 2.7 apg
- Nojel Eastern (G) 2.6 apg
STEALS
- Nojel Eastern (G) 1.1 spg
BLOCKS
- Matt Haarms (C) 1.9 bpg
Highlights from the first meeting
A look at KenPom No. 26 Purdue’s noteworthy advanced metrics vs. No. 36 Indiana
Best in the B1G at forcing turnovers. Indiana has been taking care of the basketball recently, and their progress will be tested in a tough environment on Thursday. In Big Ten games Purdue is the best team in the conference, forcing turnovers on 18.6 percent of possessions. The Boilers generate steals on nine percent of possessions which comes in at No. 3 in league games. IU had 14 turnovers in the first meeting.
Slow it down. Move over Wisconsin, Purdue is playing the slowest basketball in the league right now and IU will have a hard time pushing it to their preferred pace when they have the ball. At No. 12 on offense and No. 14 on defense, Purdue’s average possession length in Big Ten games is 18.9 seconds on both ends of the floor.
Offensive rebounding battle. Both teams are good on the offensive glass. Purdue is No. 2 in league games, garnering rebounds on 33 percent of their misses, while IU comes in at No. 4 / 31.1 percent. The teams tied in the first meeting with eight offensive rebounds apiece, but Purdue had several key second chances late and won the overall rebounding battle 29-28.
Not drawing fouls. At No. 336 in all games for free throws attempts as a percentage of field goal attempts, and No. 13 in Big Ten games, Purdue hasn’t drawn fouls all season. Only 14.8 percent of their total point distribution comes from the stripe, which is No. 338 nationally. Despite these numbers Purdue got to the line 10 more times (24-14) than IU three weeks ago, although some of those attempts came in the final minutes.
Break the pressure, break the Boilers? If you can get past Purdue’s ball pressure some weaknesses emerge. They allow assists on 62.3 percent of field goals which is No. 13 in league play. Teams are also shooting a lot of three-pointers against Purdue, presumably on kick-outs after penetration. 42 percent of opponent shots have been threes in conference contests (second most in league games), with 34.8 percent of points scored against Purdue coming from behind the arc (fourth most in league games).
Notable individual metrics:
- Trevion Williams is an elite rebounder, coming in at No. 6 and No. 47 nationally in offensive and defensive rebounding percentage, respectively. He is also heavily emphasized when Purdue has the ball with top 100 rankings in both percentage of possessions used and shots per possession nationally.
- Matt Haarms is No. 12 nationally with a 12.4 percent block percentage.
Additional Game Coverage:
- Archie Miller, Devonte Green and Race Thompson preview Purdue
- Matt Painter previews Indiana
- IU’s last six wins at Mackey Arena
- Rob Phinisee returning to high level defensive form
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