Game 8 Preview: #1 Purdue at Northwestern to open Big Ten play
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
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.
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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.
| POISE | TURNOVERS | POST 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.
