Game 9 Preview: #1 Purdue vs. Iowa
Coming off a surprising overtime loss at Northwestern to open Big Ten play, Purdue really needs this game vs. Iowa tonight in Mackey Arena.
DETAILS: Monday, Dec. 4, 2023 | 7 p.m. ET | TV: BTN (Kevin Kugler, Robbie Hummel, Andy Katz) | Radio: Purdue Radio Network
PURDUE (7-1): ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS
IOWA (5-2): ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS
THREE THINGS ABOUT PURDUE
• Purdue’s averaging 13.1 turnovers per game, three more than its opponents. It turns the ball over on roughly 18 percent of its possessions, worsened by the fact that opponents cough the ball up only 13.6 percent of the time. At Northwestern, the Wildcats scored 20 points off the 17 turnovers that prevented the Boilermakers from probably cracking a hundred on the road. Through the first seven games of the season, this season looked like the greatest threat Purdue faced and it blew up in Evanston.
Opponents are averaging 12 points per game off turnovers.
• The Boilermakers are coming off a rough shooting game, going 5-of-19 from three, even though they started well and Fletcher Loyer made a triple in OT. Iowa’s not a great defensive team, and Purdue is shooting 48 percent at home through four games this season, so a bounce-back outing should surprise no one.
• Purdue’s shooting a shade above 70 percent from the foul line, though there remain some early season oddities working themselves out statistically. Still, for a team built to twist the knife at the foul line, Purdue has not maxed out that advantage.
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A FEW THINGS ABOUT THIS GAME
• Typical Iowa: 15th nationally in offensive efficiency per KenPom, 111th defensively. The Hawkeyes are scoring more than 90 per game but allowing around 76. But for as scoring- and tempo-minded as Iowa is, they only turn the ball over nine times per game, which is impeccable.
• Valparaiso transfer Ben Krikke leads Iowa in scoring, averaging 18.3 points. The 6-foot-9, 245-pound Canadian is a skilled big man who’ll match up with Purdue’s forwards.
• Iowa’s not shooting tremendously well from three — around 36 percent — and doesn’t really have a Jordan Bohannon or Joe Wieskamp or a Murray Brother, and certainly not a Caitlyn Clark, but it does have its usual array of capable shooters, some at atypical positions for shooters. Payton Sandfort is a 6-7 forward, Krikke can step out, as can 6-9 Patrick McCaffrey and slasher Tony Perkins.
| TURNOVERS, TURNOVERS, TURNOVERS | POISE AND BALL SECURITY | BE PHYSICAL |
| This is the biggest existential threat to Purdue’s success this season, assuming no major injuries and assuming its three-point shooting doesn’t collapse. | Iowa will trap, Iowa will press and Iowa will ramp it up if it falls behind. Press has been no issue for Purdue this season, but head on a swivel nonetheless. | Purdue’s got to be better guarding the perimeter, on and off the ball and playing through contact on offense. In this game, it should be the aggressor inside and on the glass. |
GOLDANDBLACK.COM PREDICTION: PURDUE 86, IOWA 77
If Purdue can keep the turnovers down, it’s going to score points in this game. Even if it doesn’t keep the turnovers down, it’s going to score points in this game. If it can dictate tempo and keep backcourt mistakes against pressure to a minimum, it’ll be OK here. The Boilermakers are no less a team now than they were Friday morning, before losing an overtime Big Ten game on the road.
