Purdue to take swing against No. 25 Indiana
Purdue isn't the ranked team in the latest edition of its in-state rivalry with No. 25 Indiana, but the young Boilermakers appear to be on the upswing. Purdue gets a chance to see how it stacks up when it hosts the Hoosiers on Saturday afternoon at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind. The Boilermakers (11-6, 4-2 Big Ten) enter the game with five wins in six games since consecutive losses to Texas and Notre Dame. Purdue is averaging 81 points in that six-game stretch. Purdue is coming off its most dominant conference game so far, rolling to an 89-54 home win over Rutgers on Tuesday. The Boilermakers began pulling away late in the first half and outscored Rutgers 49-24 in the second half while shooting 50 percent (32 of 64) for the game. Carsen Edwards led Purdue with 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting, also contributing six assists, five rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Edwards has reached double-figure points in 37 straight games. "He did a great job of being a leader tonight, trying to get everybody going, constantly encouraging people," Purdue freshman center Trevion Williams said. Edwards leads the Big Ten in scoring at 24.9 points per game. He has scored 55 points on 16-of-38 shooting, including 11 of 24 from 3-point range, in the past two games since being held to 11 points in a 77-59 loss at Michigan State on Jan. 8. The Boilermakers had six players score at least nine points against Rutgers, including career highs from Williams and Sasha Stefanovic off the bench. Williams had 16 points and 13 rebounds, while Stefanovic contributed 14 points. Purdue had 20 assists to only eight turnovers. "Any time you have guys that can score the basketball and they're making the right reads and making the right plays, it becomes contagious," Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "It can (affect) you good or bad. Obviously, we're in a good rhythm right now in terms of sharing the ball." Purdue, which will be seeking its 11th consecutive home win, is 2-4 this season against ranked teams. Indiana (12-5, 3-3) remained ranked despite consecutive losses to Michigan and Maryland but dropped three spots in this week's poll. The Hoosiers dropped their third straight game Monday, when they were confounded by Nebraska's zone defense and shot a season-low 36.5 percent in a 66-51 home loss. "We just weren't getting the ball moved," Indiana guard Romeo Langford said. "We were just playing a little bit too conservative on the 1-3-1, weren't really attacking, and that's what you're supposed to do against the 1-3-1 -- attack and get the ball in the middle." During this three-game skid, the Hoosiers are averaging 63 points while shooting 42.7 percent (68 of 159) and 31.1 percent (14 of 45) from 3-point range. Before the three losses, they averaged 84.3 points in the final three games of a seven-game winning streak from Dec. 1-Jan. 3. The Hoosiers will be looking to rebound from a showing in which they received little beyond Langford and forward Juwan Morgan. They combined for 35 points but the rest of the team totaled 16 points on 6-of-23 shooting. "It's all about Purdue," Indiana coach Archie Miller said. "You can't get caught up in the schedule because if you get caught up in the schedule, at the end of the day, you're worrying about the wrong things. We've got to get back to work. We've got to put some things together here. Our guys gotta start to regroup, and our staff has got to do a good job with that." Purdue has won the past three meetings against Indiana and six of the last seven. --Field Level Media |