Written by: TJ Inman
What: Indiana Hoosiers at Purdue Boilermakers
Where: Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, IN
When: Friday, February 20 at 8:00 pm
How to Watch: FOX
Opponent Glance
The Indiana Hoosiers and Purdue Boilermakers play renew their bitter rivalry on Friday night as the in-state foes meet for the second time this campaign. Darian DeVries got the first marquee win of his tenure in Bloomington as Indiana knocked off Purdue on 72-67 in Assembly Hall. That win continues to act as one of two quad one victories and a tentpole for IU’s NCAA Tournament resume. Since the upset win for the Hoosiers, Purdue rallied to thump Maryland, survive Oregon and then win a pair of impressive road games against Nebraska and Iowa.
On Tuesday night, the Boilers came crashing back to Earth as they were splattered by #1 Michigan at Mackey Arena. That defeat was the third home loss of the season for Purdue and any hopes they had for a Big Ten Championship have long since evaporated. Indeed, it has thus far been a very disappointing campaign for Matt Painter’s crew after they entered the season as the number one team in the nation. Indiana led Purdue by 11 points at halftime and then held on late thanks to a monster three from Conor Enright that sealed the deal.
For IU to repeat that success, they will need the tough rebounding and defensive intensity to travel on the road. Playing on the road has been a real problem for the Hoosiers but they were successful against Purdue because they only lost the rebounding battle by six (32-26) and only committed 15 personal fouls. For the season, Purdue has the 2nd best offense in the country (per KenPom) behind only Illinois and IU limited them to just 29 first half points and 67 total. Conor Enright was fantastic against point guard Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer was just 3-10 for eight points and the center duo of Oscar Cluff and Daniel Jacobsen failed to take advantage of Purdue’s massive height advantage, combining for just five points on six shots.
Trey Kaufman-Renn hurt IU for 23 points but the Hoosiers will live with that given the difficulty the rest of the pieces had in getting going. Indiana got 19 points from Lamar Wilkerson and 18 from Nick Dorn in that game but Dorn has struggled mightily in recent contests and is mired in a shooting slump. In order to have a shot at a major upset, Wilkerson will have to continue to be special while guys like Dorn, Tucker DeVries and perhaps even the mostly invisible Tayton Conerway have above-average performances while IU’s defense prevents guys like C.J. Cox or Jack Benter from getting in rhythm.
Why It Matters
The Mackey Arena crowd will be out for blood after a loss to Michigan earlier in the week and with the knowledge of recent defeats in both basketball and football to their archrival. This is the final home game against IU for senior stars Braden Smith and Trey Kaufman-Renn and they desperately could use a win. Beyond the obvious rivalry stakes, the Indiana Hoosiers could really use another Quad One victory. Counting this contest, the Hoosiers have five regular season games remaining.
As of this writing, Indiana would very likely be included in the NCAA Tournament bracket but things can change very quickly at this point in the season. By most accounts, the Hoosiers need to go 3-2 in the final five games to feel good about their chances heading into the Big Ten Tournament. Anything less than that and fans will be reacquainted with the growing fear of missing out on Selection Sunday. A win is not likely but if IU can sweep Purdue, it would go a long way towards locking down a bid to the Big Dance in Darian DeVries’ first season.