Purdue Boilermaker Basketball Preview

Date: Friday, January 14th

Time: 5:30pm CST

Location: West Lafayette, In

Record: 13-2 (2-2 Big Ten Conference)

Ranking: #5 Coaches / #7 AP

Coach: Matt Painter (17th Season)

Preview:

Hey, Purdue is good again. Nothing new here.

The Boilermakers are coming into this game as a top ten team and someone that the Huskers probably don’t want to face during a losing streak. It’s also at one of the tougher arenas to play in the Big Ten conference. Not every team can go into Mackey Arena and take home a win.

Coach Painter has his Boilermakers one of the favorites to win the Big Ten this season. Overall they’ve played well but have two blemishes on their resume. They are coming off of a 74 to 67 win against Penn State on January 8th. This was their first true road win of the season and another step back into the top five in the nation.

Their two losses have been to Big Ten foes. The Mighty Rutgers were the first to knock the Boilermakers off of their pedestal back on December 9th. They spent an entire week at #1 before that fateful night in Piscataway, which sent the Boilermakers home with a 70-68 loss.

Their next loss was to a ranked team in the #23 Wisconsin Badgers on January 3rd. But this time the loss was at home and the Badgers went back to Madison with a 74-69 win.

As for their wins, they have taken out currently unranked North Carolina and #14 Villanova. Not a whole lot other than that. They were supposed to play Michigan on January 11th but it was cancelled because of COVID issues on the Michigan team.

Purdue is lead by sophomore guard Jaden Ivey. The 6’4” shooter is currently dropping 16.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game. He is currently draining 50% of this shots from the floor and a very nice 33% from beyond the arch. Jaden earned Big Ten All Freshman Team honors last season.

Next to Ivey is big man Zach Eddy. When I say big man, I mean big. He is 7’4” and 295 pounds. He is averaging 14.9 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game. Yes, he will cause problems in the paint for Nebraska and will have to be guarded closely if Nebraska wants a chance in this matchup. Though he only had six points in the last win, which was against Penn State. Like Jaden Ivey, he too earned Big Ten All Freshman honors last season.

Forward Trevion Williams is a name you should all know by now. The senior has been a presence on this team for quite some time. Another big man who is 6’10” and 255 pounds that will probably give the Huskers issues. This season he is averaging 13.5 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 3.0 assists. Trevion came away with a team high of 21 points in the win against Penn State. He was also an honorable mention All Big Ten last season.

Purdue has played a handful of decent teams but very few that have tested them. For the Huskers to be in this game they will need to shoot lights out and try and pair up against this fairly large Purdue squad. Nebraska has talent and speed that they will hopefully be able to utilize as the game goes on. Make the Boilermakers run all game and wear them out until the final buzzer. If done correct, the Huskers could pull off the upset on the road.

Oh yeah, also of note. Trey McGowans will be back from his foot injury and will hopefully spark the Huskers in this Friday night matchup.