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Game 8 Preview: #1 Purdue at Northwestern to open Big Ten play

On3 imageby:Brian Neubert•12/01/23•

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Purdue's Zach Edey
Purdue's Zach Edey (Chad Krockover)

Purdue’s journey to what it hopes will be back-to-back Big Ten championships starts Friday night, as the No. 1-ranked Boilermakers visit Northwestern to tip off its two-game December conference double-header.

Iowa visits Mackey Arena Monday night, then Big Ten play will resume early next month.

DETAILS: Friday, Dec. 1, 2023 | 9 p.m. ET | TV: BTN (Kevin Kugler, Robbie Hummel, Andy Katz) | Radio: Purdue Radio Network
PURDUE (7-0): ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS
NORTHWESTERN (5-1): ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS

TeamAPCoachesNETKenPomKenPom Win%
Purdue11—277%
Northwestern———5723%

THREE THINGS ABOUT PURDUE

• Purdue’s the only team in college basketball in the top five on KenPom in both offensive and defensive efficiency. It’s fourth on offense, fifth on defense.

• The Boilermakers are shooting a white-hot 42.8-percent from three-point range and have been balanced in that regard. Now, can they do it on someone else’s floor? And with Wilson basketballs?

• Purdue’s shooting a modest 69.4 percent at the foul line, not ideal for a team built to get to the line.

• Zach Edey‘s offensive rebounding percentage of 18.8 percent is ninth nationally on KenPom. That does not take into account fouls he draws on the offensive boards.

• In last year’s ugly loss at Welsh-Ryan, then-freshman guards Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer were a combined 2-of-13, Edey turned the ball over six times, Purdue was 5-of-22 from three and foul totals were even. The odds of any of that repeating wouldn’t seem great, but the road always brings surprises.

A FEW THINGS ABOUT THIS GAME

• A longer-standing fixture on the Northwestern campus than Lake Michigan, Boo Buie is back for his fifth year on the floor, this being his COVID year. The All-Big Ten guard — who turns 24 in less than a week — averages 18-and-a-half points and is making 40 percent of his threes.

While NU misses the departed Chase Audige, Lafayette’s Brooks Barnhizer has been excellent as a complement to Buie this season, averaging 15 and eight and building on the competitive streak that made him a key to Northwestern’s success right away last season.

Barnhizer’s guard skills will definitely be a challenge on D for Purdue’s bigger frontcourt. He’s not shooting great from three this season, but can.

• Northwestern is getting more than 15 turnovers per game thus far, a robust number even if the Wildcats haven’t really played a great schedule to this point. This will be only Northwestern’s second game against a high-major-conference opponent, the first being a 66-57 loss against Mississippi State at the Mohegan Sun.

• This probably more random than anything, but opponent are shooting 38.2 percent from three vs. Northwestern.

POISETURNOVERSPOST GAME EXECUTION
This is going to be a really physical, maybe even dirty, game, and last year’s trip to Northwestern is a sound reminder that the officials aren’t on your side on the road when things get ugly.This is the Boilermakers’ most acute concern, its most clear and present danger as far as paths to defeat go. They simply can’t help their opponents by frittering away possessions.Northwestern is going to be very active trapping the post and daring the officials to call everything. Zach Edey’s decision-making is key, as is the attention to detail of those around him carrying out their assignments.

GOLDANDBLACK.COM PREDICTION: PURDUE 72, NORTHWESTERN 64

Purdue’s shown it can win a lot of different ways, but now comes the time where it may need to win ugly against a team whose best chance will be to muck it up. This has been the sort of moment the past two seasons where things have gotten real in a hurry for the Boilermakers. But this team looks more ready than the past two, particularly in the backcourt.

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