The Purdue Preview: Second Coming

Date: Friday, January 13th

Time: 6:00pm CST

Location: West Lafayette, IN

Record: 15-1 (4-1 Big Ten)

Ranking: #3 (Coaches/AP)

Preview:

The last time we saw the Boilermakers they came to Lincoln and gave the Huskers a heartbreaking 64-65 loss in overtime back on December 10th. The following Monday Purdue saw themselves ranked all the way up at #1 fort the first time this season. Since that win they have also gone 5-1 with wins over Davison, New Orleans, Florida A&M, #24 Ohio State, and their most recent win against Penn State.

Their lone loss was to a plucky Rutgers team that beat them in West Lafayette 64-65. Mind you, Rutgers is currently 12-5. Yes, Rutgers is a decent team in the conference. In fact, they’ve been decent for a few years now. They are a team that will most likely continue to challenge teams as the season goes on. So it was a bit of a respectable loss at that. The loss itself knocked them out of the #1 spot in the nation but not out of the Top 25.

This all after starting the year out unranked.

As many of you know the Boilermakers bring some of the top talent in the conference into this game once again. They are lead by center Zach Edey who is on course for some conference and national honors at the end of the season.

Zach is averaging 21.9 points, 13.2 rebounds while shooting 63% from the floor. Nebraska did a fairly decent job containing him during the last outing where he only had 11 points but a whopping 17 rebounds. I expect more effort out of him this game but Nebraska did do a decent job against him in the loss back in December.

Next to Zach is guard Fletcher Loyer. Fletcher is averaging 12.4 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game this season. Against Nebraska he lead the Boilermakers with a game high of 22 points and 3 rebounds in the win. He caused problems for the Huskers in Lincoln and I would expect to see the same this time around.

Also of note is guard Braden Smith. He is averaging 9.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 4.0 assists on the year. He had 8 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists in the win on December 10th.

On the Air

Radio: Friday’s game will be carried on the Huskers Radio Network with Kent Pavelka and Jake Muhleisen on the call, including KLIN (1400 AM) in Lincoln, KXSP (590 AM) in Omaha and KRVN (880 AM) in Lexington and will also be available on Huskers.com and the Huskers app. The pregame show begins an hour before tipoff.

TV/Online: Friday’s game will be televised on Big Ten Network with Dave Revsine and Stephen Bardo on the call. The game will also be available online on the Fox Sports app.