College Basketball Game of the Week: No. 17 Indiana vs. No. 5 Purdue
Two of the best teams in the state of Indiana will clash once again on Saturday night when the No. 17 Indiana Hoosiers travel to West Lafayette to take on the No. 5 Purdue Boilermakers.
These two teams have a long history and a deep disdain for one another. It also just so happens that these are some of the best basketball programs in the country, and they both sit near the top of the Big Ten standings.
Purdue has been on an absolute tear this season, boasting a 24-4 record, and was ranked No. 1 for a significant portion of the season. The Boilermakers started off 13-0 with quality wins over schools like Duke, Gonzaga and Marquette. Since starting 13-0 they have faded just a bit losing three of their last five games, but still have all of the tools to make a run in March.
They are led by star big man Zach Edey, who towers over his opponents, measuring in at 7’4. Edey is averaging 22.1 points per game to go with his 12.7 rebounds a game, both of which are top-5 in the nation. His 2.4 blocks per game are also very impressive; put it all together and you have the numbers of the front-runner for the wooden award in college basketball.
The Boilermakers have plenty of talent outside of the center position as well. Braden Smith is a freshman who has come to West Lafayette and made an instant impact for Purdue. He averages a team-high 4.3 assists per game and is averaging 10 points a game on top of that.
Purdue gets significant contributions from a slew of others, including Fletcher Loyer, Mason Gillis and Caleb Furst. Purdue seems to have the right mix of experience, height, shooting, and defense to be able to compete with anyone in the country.
With that being said, one of Purdue’s few losses came at the hands of the rival Indiana Hoosiers. The Hoosiers have a dominant big man of their own in Trayce Jackson-Davis. Jackson-Davis, similar to Edey, is averaging a team-high 20.5 points per game, 11.1 boards a game, and an impressive 2.9 blocks per game that ranks fifth in the nation.
The Hoosiers also started their season hot, winning their first seven games that included victories over Xavier and the defending national champion North Carolina Tar Heels. The Hoosiers faltered a bit after that but regained their footing and are now ranked once again in the top-25.
Indiana has lost two of its last three, falling to Michigan State and Northwestern in that span, so they are in desperate need of a big win to preserve their seed line in March Madness and for the Big Ten tournament.
When these two teams faced off on Feb. 4, Indiana took down then-No. 1 Purdue in Simon Skjodt Hall 79-74. Indiana’s 79-point performance is still the most points Purdue has given up all season long so they will be extra motivated to play their best defense come Saturday evening.
In that contest, both stars showed up for their teams. Purdue’s Zach Edey dropped 33 points and 18 rebounds, an astounding stat line to still come up short. Trayce Jackson-Davis was up to the task of taking on Edey however, posting 25 points, 7 rebounds and 5 blocks in a winning effort.
With less than two weeks remaining in the regular season, Purdue sits at the top of the Big Ten standings and is on the verge of clinching the top seed in the Big Ten Tournament. A revenge win against Indiana would go a long way in the standings as well as showing the selection committee that they are better than the team they have been for the last five games.
This game looms even larger for Indiana due to the fact that it is only half a game ahead of six other teams in the standings, and getting a top-4 seed means a double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament, a massive boost to their chances.
This contest is one of the biggest on the Big Ten schedule the rest of the way, and both teams desperately need a win. The stars will need to show up once again to give their team the best chance of coming out on top.
Jameson Kramer is a fourth-year student majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email jek5650@psu.edu.
