Game 1 Preview: #3 Purdue vs Samford
At long last, the college basketball season begins, and so too does second-ranked Purdue’s opportunity for redemption
DETAILS: Monday 11.6 | 6:30 p.m. ET | TV: BTN (Cory Provus, Robbie Hummel)| Radio: Purdue Radio Network
PURDUE: ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS
SAMFORD: ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS
THREE THINGS ABOUT PURDUE
• Watch out for Braden Smith, whose scoring-minded demeanor to open this season has really made a difference through two exhibitions. Per his coaches’ emphases, the point guard is looking to shoot, which will inevitably open up the Boilermaker offense considerably. Through two exhibitions, he averaged 17 points per 40 minutes and was 5-of-10 shooting threes.
• Purdue is largely intact from last season, but nevertheless different. Trey Kaufman-Renn is starting at forward after coming off the bench and starting guard Lance Jones is new altogether. Purdue seems fairly committed to a starting group of those two along with Smith, Zach Edey and Fletcher Loyer.
• This will be the official Mackey Arena debut for Jones and freshman Myles Colvin, plus redshirt freshmen Camden Heide and Will Berg (should he see action).
Top 10
- 1
Updated SEC title game scenarios
The path to the championship game is clear
- 2
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'Incorrect call' wipes Bama TD away
- 3
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Death Valley disapproval of Brian Kelly
- 4New
Chipper Jones
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- 5
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Mizzou coach sounded off
Where do they fit in?
Both will play Monday night, beginning to reveal how extensive their roles may be this season and how much their elite athleticism can be put to use.
A FEW THINGS ABOUT THIS GAME
• Far as buy games go, Samford is a cream-of-the-crop sort of opponent, as the Southern Conference program is a solid mid-major whose NET ranking at the end of the year may not help Purdue — provided it wins — but wouldn’t be damaging, either. Samford was 21-11 last season, 15-3 in the Southern, but has turned over its roster quite a bit, as will be the case every year for lower-level programs. Gone is leading scorer Ques Glover — who Purdue briefly recruited before landing Lance Jones — to Kansas State, but notable additions including Dallas Graziani, a long-time starting point guard at D2 power Nova Southeastern, and big man Zach Loveday, formerly of Baylor.
Additionally, there’s style-of-play benefit to be had here, too, for Purdue.
• In a season opener, it’s hard to know what to expect, but Samford did press on 37 percent of its defensive possessions last season, per Synergy Sports. That will put an onus not on Purdue to beat pressure but also to get defensive stops enough to prevent it from setting up said press.
THREE KEYS FOR PURDUE
| Handle Pressure | Make Early Shots | Rebounding |
| Samford will press Purdue. It can’t be any more difficult than what Arkansas presented and the Boilermakers do have more pressure-optimized offensive lineups, so it should be OK, but it will have to be strong with the ball. | Purdue has to shoot threes at a higher rate than last season, but it’s the early ones that can matter more because can set the terms of play from the jump. | Should be a strength every time out for Purdue. Games like this, it can really twist that knife, especially on the offensive boards. |
GOLDANDBLACK.COM PREDICTION: PURDUE 80, SAMFORD 60
This is about as high-quality a buy game as you’ll get, but needless to say, Mackey Arena is just one of the Boilermakers’ many presumed advantages here.
