Purdue Basketball Game 2 Preview: Austin Peay

Where: Mackey Arena (West Lafayette, Ind.)

When: 7 p.m. ET

TV: BTN

Radio: Purdue Sports Network (WAZY locally)

In-game updates: GoldandBlack.com | Twitter @brianneubert

ABOUT THE TEAMS

Purdue: Roster | Schedule | Stats

Austin Peay: Roster | Schedule | Stats

NUMBERS AND SUCH

Team	AP	Coaches	NET	KenPom	KenPom Win%
Purdue	ARV	ARV	—	22	97%
Austin Peay	—	—	—	248	3%

PROJECTED PURDUE LINEUPS

Starters

Center — 15 Zach Edey (7-4, 290, Junior)

Purdue’s centerpiece player, Edey was elite defensively against Milwaukee, perhaps the best game of his career in that regard, and dominated the glass. But he was just 4-of-13 from the floor, which has to be considered an outlier.

Forward — 0 Mason Gillis (6-6, 230, Junior)

Quietly, Gillis was excellent in the season opener against Milwaukee, finishing with seven points on just four shots, and adding six rebounds, two assists, three steals and a block without a turnover. His effort is going to be a huge deal for this team, his shooting will be featured and his possessions quotient (offensive rebounds and steals vs. turnovers and missed field goals) will be a net gain for Purdue, probably by a wide margin.

Guard — 3 Braden Smith (6-0, 180, Freshman)

The freshman point guard will have much asked of him this season and looks ready to deliver as needed He was the best player on the floor for a stretch during the first half against Milwaukee, en route to setting a Purdue freshman record with seven steals. Depth is an issue at his position, so watch out for early fouls.

Guard — 2 Fletcher Loyer (6-4, 185, Freshman)

After settling in against Milwaukee following a slow start, Loyer made a series of threes after halftime and led Purdue with 17 points. His knowledge showed up, too, in his work against the press, his passing and his leading of fast breaks, same as Smith.

Guard/Forward — 25 Ethan Morton (6-7, 215, Junior)

Morton’s going to be a high-level glue guy for Purdue this season, and his Game 1 reflected it, as he led Purdue with six assists simply moving the ball. He was exceptional as the second guy to handle it against the press, but did have a hard time bringing the ball up against pressure, as 6-6 players are prone to do. When he’s Purdue’s point guard, or at least the guy who brings the ball up, coaches may have to scheme some help for him.

Rotational Reserves

Guard — 5 Brandon Newman (6-5, 200, Junior)

Newman has that look in his eye as a scorer, and Purdue needs that. He’s shooting well to this point this season from a variety of ranges, but also zeroed in on putting the ball in the basket. He won’t always be perfect but that’s the deal with aggressiveness sometimes. He’s really producing and checking an important box for the Boilermakers. Purdue has lots of ball-movers; it needs scorers to emerge.

Forward/Center — 1 Caleb Furst (6-10, 230, Sophomore)

You’ve not seen the best of what Furst can do quite yet this season, but it’s coming. The more threes and opportunities at the basket Purdue can get him, the better, but he’s also going to find productivity just through effort and opportunism.

Forward/Center — 4 Trey Kaufman-Renn (6-9, 225, Redshirt Freshman)

Kaufman-Renn has both scored and rebounded every time out this season and probably ought to start expecting double teams to come his way when he gets the ball on the block. How he handles that and how it benefits Furst and the others around him, that’s an important next step for Purdue offensively.

Guard/Forward — 11 Brian Waddell (6-8, 195, Redshirt Freshman)

There’s nothing exciting about the Fundamentals Montage Waddell is bringing off the bench for Purdue as he continues to round back into form, but he makes all the right passes, all the right plays, is in all the right places defensively and just gives Purdue really solid minutes. Solid is just fine.

Guard — 14 David Jenkins Jr. (6-1, 200, Senior)

Jenkins had his horror movie shiner drained on Thursday and might give it a go against Austin Peay. Considering how much of the past week he’s spent with just one eye open, we’ll see how effective he is, though. Might be best to ease him back into things.

Guard/Forward — 23 Camden Heide (6-7, 205, Freshman)

Heide is under consideration for a redshirt, taking a few games to observe and make a decision, per Matt Painter. He won’t be playing in the meantime.

Note: Freshman center Will Berg will redshirt this season.

ON AUSTIN PEAY

• The Governors are coming off a 99-50 loss at North Carolina State Monday night to open the season.

• Austin Peay attempted only eight threes against the Wolfpack, making just one.

• Peay is coached by former Duke standout and Mike Krzyzewski staffer Nate James.

AUSTIN PEAY LINEUPS

Forward — 12 Shon Robinson (6-9, 225, Sophomore)

Center — 4 Elijah Hutchins-Everett (6-11, 255, Sophomore

Guard — 10 Guy Fauntleroy (5-10, 170, Freshman)

Guard/Forward — 41 Cameron Copeland (Senior)

Forward — 0 Sean Durugordon (6-5, 220, Sophomore)

Bench

Guard — 1 Carlos Paez (5-10, 180, Senior)

Forward — 23 Kelechi Okworogwo (6-6, 210, Freshman)

Guard — 2 Elijah Perkins (6-4, 190, Freshman)

Guard — 5 Drew Calderon (6-4, 190, Sophomore)

Forward — 14 Nathan Moore (6-9, 220, Junior)

THREE KEYS FOR PURDUE

keep it up	contain the dribble	attack
Purdue is off to a good start. It has done a solid job taking care of the ball and playing together, as well as doing OK defensively. It’s all about week-to-week improvement for Purdue this time of year.	Zach Edey’s sublime game defensively vs. Milwaukee covered up a lot of driving lanes the Panthers found against Purdue, which has to do a better job containing the ball.	Austin Peay is probably going to try to apply some pressure. Aside from some modest hiccups here and there, Purdue has looked capable of not just handling backcourt pressure, but exploiting it.

LIGHTNING-ROUND TAKES

• This figures to be a rough Election Week for the Governors, opening with two buy games on the road before catching that last train back to Clarksville. (Yes, they pay us to write stuff like this.)

• Purdue will be wise this season to run offense to get 4 men Mason Gillis, Caleb Furst and Trey Kaufman-Renn clean looks from three, especially Gillis and Furst. This could be a huge avenue for offense for Purdue and something that might really create problems for defenses around the basket. Making the other team’s 4 man run around on the perimeter will open space for Zach Edey and Kaufman-Renn to get optimal post position. Oh, and Gillis and Furst might both be 40-plus-percent shooters from distance this season, again.

PREDICTION: PURDUE 94, AUSTIN PEAY 64

Sometimes you have to worry about young teams in games like these, but Purdue has not really played like a young team yet, which isn’t to say it won’t. That said, not sure Peay is capable of taking advantage if the Boilermakers do show their youth, or at least new-ness.