Purdue Basketball Game 12 Preview: New Orleans

Off to an 11-0 start and ranked No. 1 nationally, Purdue has a couple of buy games bracketing Christmas, starting with Wednesday night’s visit from New Orleans. Here’s our comprehensive preview of the Boilermakers’ meeting with the Privateers, who’ll undoubtedly love the weather.

Where: Mackey Arena (West Lafayette)

When: Wednesday, Dec. 21, 9 p.m. ET

TV: ESPNU

Radio: Purdue Sports Network (WAZY locally)

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

ABOUT THE TEAMS

Purdue: Roster | Schedule | Stats

New Orleans: Roster | Schedule | Stats

NUMBERS AND SUCH

Team	AP	Coaches	NET	KenPom	KenPom Win%
Purdue	1	1	3	7	99.9%
New Orleans	—	—	358	344	0.01%

ON PURDUE (11-0, 2-0 B1G)

• Purdue’s been pushed the past two games, starting with an overtime win at Nebraska, then a tight Indy Classic outcome against Davidson. The biggest issue Purdue has had to overcome? Combined 10-of-54 three-point shooting in those two games.

• This is Purdue’s first game ever in Mackey Arena as the No. 1-ranked team. When it reached No. 1 last season, it played a road game at Rutgers and a neutral-site game against N.C. State.

• Minus Zach Edey’s 62.8-percent shooting, the rest of Purdue’s roster is shooting just under 40 percent collectively. Another indicator of just how much Edey’s been able to carry his team.

PROJECTED PURDUE LINEUPS

Starters

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

Edey’s enjoying an all-time great season at Purdue, despite the fact that opponents are actually taking the ball out of his hands more effectively lately. Purdue’s got to help him by making threes.

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

After a fairly pedestrian game-and-a-half, Furst lit a fire under Purdue to start the second half against Davidson. He has that ability to change games that way.

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

When Purdue’s offense has been slowed down at times, Smith gives Matt Painter the option to boil things down to simple two-man-game stuff with him and Zach Edey and it works. Smith has made Edey a legitimate roll-man threat and given Purdue a legitimate wheeler-and-dealer in ball screen action.

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

Loyer’s been one of the better freshmen in college basketball and he hasn’t even really started making shots yet. Just a matter of time before the threes start going down more than they are now.

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

Morton’s having an excellent season defensively and really grounds the Boilermakers on offense with his steadiness and such. Another Purdue player who’s getting golden looks from three who’ll probably pick up his percentages as the season wears on.

Rotational Reserves

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

After a three-game absence due to a back problem, Gillis returned for the Davidson game.

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

Again, Purdue needs its shot-makers to start making shots. Newman’s at 31-percent from three through his first 40-plus attempts.

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

It’s tough to get the young low-post scorer as many opportunities as Purdue might like when Edey’s playing so many minutes. That’s a good thing for Purdue, but does create a log jam in the frontcourt.

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

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

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

Heide seems to be set to redshirt this season.

Note: Freshman center Will Berg will redshirt this season.

ON NEW ORLEANS (3-7)

• The Privateers have lost seven of 10 amidst a grueling scheduling thus far, thanks largely to a difficult road schedule and back-to-back one-point home losses to Denver and Louisiana bracketing the end of November and the start of December.

NEW ORLEANS LINEUPS

Guard — 1 Jordan Johnson (6-1, 170, Junior)

Johnson leads New Orleans at just under 15 points per game and makes 46 percent of his threes.

Center — 11 Simeon Kirkland (6-10, 225, Senior)

Forward — 5 Tyson Jackson (6-9, 245, Junior)

Guard — 20 Khaleb Wilson-Rouse (6-2, 185, Junior)

Guard — 0 Daniel Sackey (5-9, 175, Senior)

Bench

Guard— 2 K’mani Doughty (6-5, 195, Sophomore)

Forward — 4 Omarion Henry (6-7, 205, Freshman)

Guard — 10 Marquez Cooper (6-4, 195, Grad)

LIGHTNING-ROUND TAKES

• There’s absolutely no reason this game should be played at 9 p.m. Good riddance, ESPN.

THREE KEYS FOR PURDUE

be engaged	dominate inside	early threes
These next two games — New Orleans and Florida A&M bracketing Christmas — are more mental challenges for Purdue than anything, good opportunities to show maturity and organic energy.	Purdue’s wall of hidden productivity has buoyed it all season, with the glass and foul line looming large.	Again, with this. If Purdue can just make threes, but specifically early ones, games are going to unfold much more favorably than they have been.

PREDICTION: PURDUE 90, DAVIDSON 67

There shouldn’t be a whole lot of suspense with either of these next two games. The Boilermakers have had to battle for these last two wins. There should be no such drama in either of the final two non-conference games.