Date: Thursday, Jan. 2, 2020
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Venue: Mackey Arena (West Lafayette)
TV: BTN
Radio: Purdue Radio Network
Purdue Particulars: Roster | Schedule | Statistics
More: Purdue primer and GoldandBlack.com coverage
Minnesota Particulars: Roster | Schedule | Statistics
GoldandBlack.com in-game updates: @GoldandBlackcom | @brianneubert
ABOUT THIS GAME
Big Ten play resumes as Minnesota visits Purdue, each of them off to 1-1 starts during the December portion of the conference season. Like the majority of the Big Ten, each lost on the road and won at home.
PURDUE BOILERMAKERS (8-5, 1-1 B1G)
ABOUT PURDUE
• Purdue got Matt Haarms back from a concussion for the non-conference finale vs. Central Michigan but seems as if it'll stick with its starting five of the past three games, with Nojel Eastern essentially starting at forward.
Prior to Haarms' concussion, suffered at Nebraska, Purdue had started three games in a row with him and Trevion Williams starting together. Purdue doesn't seem to be hurrying back into that, if it goes back to it at all this season.
• Purdue closed the non-conference season 7-4, 8-5 with the two December Big Ten games included. The reigning conference champions beat Northwestern in Mackey Arena to open conference play, but then lost at anticipated league bottom-dweller Nebraska.
• Guard Sasha Stefanovic is coming off a career-high 23 points vs. Central Michigan. He's now shooting a team-best 43.3 percent from three-point range, 53.5 percent in six games in Mackey Arena.
MINNESOTA GOLDEN GOPHERS (7-5, 1-1 B1G)
ABOUT MINNESOTA
• This is a very different Gopher team than the one Purdue dropped two of three to last season, or as Matt Painter has put it, won five of six halves vs. the Boilermakers.
Gone is wing Amir Coffey — the player who probably gave Purdue the most trouble last season — and big man Jordan Murphy, among others, but back is the best big man the Boilermakers have seen to this point this season, Daniel Oturu.
Oturu is big and physical and runs the floor especially well, and he really hurt the Boilermakers in Mackey Arena last season simply by out-running its bigs, but also making jumpers.
He's shooting 71 percent on two-point shots, drawing a ton of fouls and is a formidable offensive rebounder, on top of all else he provides Minnesota.
Purdue hasn't seen a big man of his caliber to this point this season. Not even close, actually.
• Minnesota's results have been uneven this season, but since its 20-point loss at Iowa Dec. 9, the Gophers have flexed their muscles with a blowout win over top-five Ohio State in Williams Arena, a one-sided win over Oklahoma State in Tulsa and a rout of FIU to close non-conference play.
• Transfer Marcus Carr, a Canadian who started his college career at Pitt, erupted vs. Ohio State for 35 points. He's given the Golden Gophers a backcourt scoring threat.
Carr's been a little inconsistent, but he's averaging roughly 15 points per game and more than seven assists and he and upstart sophomore Gabe Kalscheur will give the Boilermakers a pair of high-priority-type defensive assignments in the backcourt.
• Senior Payton Willis, a transfer from Vanderbilt, has been sidelined by a right ankle injury and may not be available for the third straight game since he aggravated a prior injury against Ohio State. Willis is a 38-percent three-point shooter averaging 2.7 made threes per game, and has averaged 11 points per game this season.
• Without Willis, Minnesota's down a key weapon, but it's a dangerous three-point shooting team nonetheless, shooting 35 percent as a team. Kalscheur is a 38-percent shooter who's going to be one of the best shooters in the Big Ten before long if he's not already. Carr is streaky, but he's shown what he's capable of on the right side of those streaks.
BOTTOM LINE
Minnesota's dangerous. Its results make that crystal clear and will present challenges Purdue's not really seen thus far, namely from Daniel Oturu. But the Big Ten may be tipping off one of those seasons where road wins are especially hard to come by, and winning at Purdue is never a small feat. But the Boilermakers need to do it with defense.
GoldandBlack.com Prediction: PURDUE 69, MINNESOTA 63
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