THE GAME
Purdue opens the postseason at the Big Ten Tournament, as the third-seeded Boilermakers meet No. 11-seed Penn State, who knocked off Minnesota and Ohio State the past two nights to reach Friday evening.
It's another matchup between Matt Painter and former Boilermaker assistant coach Micah Shrewsberry, Penn State's first-year coach. The long-time colleagues and friends both seemed relieved when that first game came and went, as neither was particularly excited about trying to beat the other.
THE PARTICULARS
Date: Friday, March 11, 2022
Time: 9 p.m. ET
TV: BTN
Radio: Purdue Radio Network (96.5 WAZY locally)
ABOUT #10 PURDUE (25-6, 14-6 B1G)
• The Boilermakers seem to be looking to earn a place as a No. 2 seed with a meaningful run in Indy, or at least solidify their place as a high 3 seed.
• Purdue's looking for its first Big Ten Tournament win since March of 2018 in New York City.
• Purdue won the first and only meeting of this season between these two teams, 74-67 in State College back on Jan. 8. (Stats)
• The Big Ten Tournament bracket guaranteed the Boilermakers one of this season's single-play opponents to open the event. Purdue faced Ohio State, Penn State and Minnesota all once during the regular season.
• The Boilermakers were 4-0 on neutral floors in non-conference play, with a win over Butler In the Crossroads Classic in Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
• Should Purdue advance, it would meet either Wisconsin or Michigan State Saturday around 3:30 p.m. in the semifinals.
PURDUE LINEUPS
STARTERS
C — 15 Zach Edey (7-4, 295, So.)
14.7 PPG • 66.7% FG • 7.6 REB • 1.3 BLK
Put any sort of recording device around Matt Painter and bring up Zach Edey's name and Purdue's coach will stump for his player in no uncertain terms, as he's felt all year that the second-team All-Big Ten center has been unjustly officiated. Edey's play might be the key to a run in Indianapolis, so keep a close eye on how those whistles are doled out.
F — 0 Mason Gillis (6-6, 230, So.)
6.6 PPG • 4.6 REB • 51.7% FG • 44.7% 3-PT • 82.8% FT
As much value as Gillis has provided all across the board this season, his shooting from the 4 has been such a key element to Purdue's nation-best offensive efficiency. But this is also offensive rebounding and loose-ball season and Gillis matters big time in both columns.
G — 55 Sasha Stefanovic (6-5, 205, Sr.)
11.4 PPG • 40.3% 3-PT • 3.4 AST
As Stefanovic has gone, so often Purdue has gone. His efficiency from three-point range might be an element that determines outcomes for the Boilermakers from here on out.
G — 2 Eric Hunter (6-4, 175, Sr.)
6.1 PPG • 2.0 AST • 48.6% FG • 44.1% 3-PT
The end of the season served as Hunter's re-emergence as a defensive weapon, but he also blew up offensively — 17 points — in the regular season finale against Indiana, capping a regular season in which he shot the ball really well.
G —23 Jaden Ivey (6-4, 195, So.)
17.2 PPG • 45.9% FG • 37% 3-PT • 4.7 RPG • 3.0 AST
This is the time of year when the cream rises to the top, but also comes under the microscope. The All-American's influence over Purdue heading into these postseason events is obviously considerable, but with defenses sure to load up to stop him, his decision-making is the name of the game.
ROTATION
C — 50 Trevion Williams (6-10, 255, Sr.)
11.6 PPG • 54.7% FG • 7.3 REB • 3.0 AST
The Big Ten's Sixth Man of the Year is not your typical backup. He's one of this team's stars, but also a player Purdue needs to set positive tones from consistency and defensive attentiveness perspectives, on top of taking care of the basketball.
G —11 Isaiah Thompson (6-1, 160, Jr.)
4.6 PPG • 42.7% 3-PT
As Hunter stepped up and Big Ten defenses clamped down on Thompson following his outstanding non-conference season, the junior's role has shrunk some. Doesn't mean that people are going to forget about him and leave him open.
G — 25 Ethan Morton (6-6, 215, So.)
2.4 PPG • 1.5 AST • 47.3% FG • 42.9% 3-PT
Morton's been solid all season long, playing a variety of roles. Even though Purdue's rotation may contract some for the postseason, he's going to continue to be a really important player.
F — 3 Caleb Furst (6-10, 230, Fr.)
4.1 PPG • 3.3 RPG • 57.1% FG • 39.1% 3-PT
Furst's first taste of postseason college basketball will come in a limited role, as Purdue needs Mason Gillis on the floor as much as possible and could use Morton in reserve should matchups dictate that. But experience Is going to matter next season for Furst, and here's guessing he takes a significant leap this off-season.
G — 5 Brandon Newman (6-5, 200, So.)
5.0 PPG • 32.5% 3-PT • 85% FT
Newman hasn't played meaningful minutes since Jan. 23.
Freshmen Trey Kaufman-Renn and Brian Waddell will redshirt this season. Waddell will miss most of the season after tearing his ACL and Kaufman-Renn is now sidelined up to six weeks after undergoing foot surgery.
ABOUT PENN STATE (12-16, 7-13 B1G - 2-0 B1G TOURNAMENT)
• Penn State's riding a bit of a heater, with wins the past two nights over Minnesota, then Ohio State, who'd won the two regular season meetings with the Nittany Lions.
The Big Ten Tournament has marked a turnaround for the Lions after they closed the regular season with a dreadful home loss to Nebraska, then competitive losses at Illinois and Rutgers.
• Penn State finished the regular season last in the Big Ten in scoring, averaging just 63.3 points in conference play.
• Penn State finished the regular season first in the Big Ten in scoring defense, allowing just 66.2 points in conference play. They're top-50 nationally in defensive efficiency.
Along those same lines, the Lions were second-worst in the conference in field goal percentage, but second-best in field goal percentage defense.
• Like Purdue, Penn State forces very few turnovers, as it's 357th nationally in turnover percentage.
PENN STATE LINEUPS
STARTERS
F - 1 Seth Lundy (6-6, 217, Jr.)
12.4 PPG • 4.1 RPG • 36.7% 3-PT
Purdue did a nice job on Lundy in Game 1, as he was only 3-of-10 from the floor. But he'll be an absolute priority for the Boilermakers defensively again. He's a big-time three-point shooter for a position where such players can be hard to guard.
F - 5 Greg Lee (6-9, 217, Sr.)
7.1 PPG • 6.2 RPG
A physical specimen who gave Penn State 11 points in the first meeting with Purdue.
C - 21 John Harrar (6-9, 240, Sr.)
10.5 PPG • 10.3 RPG • 64.8% FG
Purdue probably hasn't seen a player who played harder than Harrar's going to play on Friday night. He's coming at Zach Edey's and Trevion Williams' heads and they're going to have to do everything in their power to keep him off the glass, especially at the offensive end.
G - 22 Jalen Pickett (6-4, 202, Sr.)
12.8 PPG • 4.1 RPG • 4.3 AST • 30.1% 3-PT
Pickett was the guy Purdue struggled to stop in the first meeting with Penn State, though he did need 20 shots to get his 21 points. The Boilermakers are a different team defensively now. The multi-faceted scoring guard will happily take anyone and everyone he can into the post.
G - 23 Dallion Johnson (6-3, 182, So.)
3.7 PPG • 41.3% 3-PT
Johnson's not been very productive lately, but he's been a very efficient three-point shooter on low volume.
KEY RESERVES
G - 3 Sam Sessoms (6-0, 189, Sr.)
11.4 PPG • 3.2 RPG • 2.9 AST • 42.3% 3-PT
Sessoms played starter minutes against Ohio State and led the charge gouging the Buckeyes in the paint, scoring 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting.
G - 2 Myles Dread (6-4, 235, Sr.)
6.1 PPG • 2.7 RPG • 38.9% 3-PT
Dread was 3-for-3 from three-point range against Ohio State, who struggled with the size of Penn State's guards.
G - 11 Jaheam Cornwall (6-0, 190, Sr.)
2.2 PPG
IN-GAME AND POST-GAME COVERAGE
Stay dialed in to GoldandBlack.com during the game for our pre-game First Thoughts analysis. During the game, follow along with our game thread and follow @brianneubert on Twitter for additional insight.
Following the game, we'll have post-game press conference video, game coverage, analysis, our Wrap Video and Final Thoughts, plus a Gold and Black Radio podcast within a few hours of the end of the game.
Stay tuned.
PREDICTION: PURDUE 73, PENN STATE 65
Penn State's guards are really going to attack Purdue off the bounce, which will be a great test for a Boilermaker defense that's been pretty solid lately, but Is far from a finished product against ball screens. The Nittany Lions are also playing really well and really tough on defense, probably over-achieving as a team because of it, taking on John Harrar's mentality.
But Purdue's got two great bigs to counter Harrar and have made steps defensively from the first meeting, which was so long ago now that it hardly matters. That said, the Nittany Lions emptied their tank In that first meeting against Purdue — Micah Shrewsberry even ran a box-and-one against Sasha Stefanovic — and it wasn't quite enough.
Here's guessing Purdue comes out energized and Penn State maybe feels the effects of playing for the third time in three days.
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