Date: Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020
Time: 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. local time
Venue: State Farm Center (Champaign, Ill.)
TV: BTN
Radio: Purdue Radio Network
Purdue Particulars: Roster | Schedule | Statistics
More: Purdue primer and GoldandBlack.com coverage
Illinois Particulars: Roster | Schedule | Statistics
GoldandBlack.com in-game updates: @GoldandBlackcom | @brianneubert
ABOUT THIS GAME
Holding a 2-1 Big Ten record following Thursday night's double-overtime slugfest win over Minnesota, the Boilermakers return to the road to face Illinois, looking for their first Big Ten road win and second overall of the season.
PURDUE BOILERMAKERS (9-5, 2-1 B1G)
ABOUT PURDUE
• Purdue is 1-2 on the road this season, and 0-1 in the Big Ten, following an early December loss at Nebraska.
• Sophomore guard Sasha Stefanovic is averaging 20 points per game the past two games, and now third in the Big Ten in three-point percentage at 45.3 percent. He's 12-of-18 from three the past two games.
His penchant for three-point shooting outbursts have been critical for Purdue In Mackey Arena, but he is shooting 25 percent in five games away from West Lafayette, a trend he'd like to buck starting now.
• Matt Haarms is coming off a career-high 26 points In 40 minutes vs. Minnesota. He and Trevion Williams combined for 40 points and 18 boards.
• Purdue's leading scorer this season prior to the Minnesota game, senior Jahaad Proctor Is averaging 7.4 points the past games and shooting less than 30 percent from the floor In that time frame. This after the transfer from High Point had scored in double-figures in 25 consecutive college games.
• With Illinois playing center Kofi Cockburn and fellow big man Giorgi Bezhanishvili together as part of its standard lineups, that should make this game in which Purdue can play Matt Haarms and Trevion Williams together extensively, though the Illini can be a high-pressure team on the perimeter, adding some value to the 4 position being more of a ball-handler and decision-maker.
ILLINOIS FIGHTING ILLINI (9-5, 1-2 B1G)
ABOUT ILLINOIS
• It's been an up-and-down season for the Illini, who look at times like a sure-fire NCAA Tournament team, only to look like something very different other times.
During the December portion of the Big Ten season, Illinois should have won at top-five Maryland, up nine with four-and-a-half minutes left, only to fall In the final seconds.
This, after a Big Ten/ACC Challenge game in which Miami (Fla.) led by 27 in the first half at the State Farm Center, only to hang on for dear life at the end after the Illini found a second-half pulse.
Illinois flashed Its potential, though, in an impressive win over then-No. 5 Michigan, but re-opened Big Ten play this past week with a 20-point loss at Michigan State.
• Kofi Cockburn may have the inside track for Big Ten Freshman-of-the-Year, as the 7-foot, 290-pounder averages 15.2 points and 9.2 rebounds. He's eighth nationally in offensive rebounding percentage per KenPom, and the reason that the Illini lead the Big Ten to this point in both offensive and defensive rebounding percentage.
Trevion Williams says he's looking forward to battling Cockburn physically, Matt Haarms says he hopes his length and mobility can become advantages against him and Matt Painter says that coaching Isaac Haas has provided the Boilermaker staff some perspective on Cockburn, to not "over-do it" trying to stop him and wind up fouling often.
Cockburn's been fouled 63 times this season, an average of four-and-a-half times per game.
Coming off a 50-minute game in which Minnesota's Daniel Oturu finished with 18 rebounds and affected the game considerably on the offensive glass, Cockburn's presence on the boards will obviously have Purdue on high alert.
• After turning down a chance to maybe even be a first-round pick last spring, guard Ayo Dosunmo averages 15.8 points. He's not a great three-point shooter — 28 percent on the season — but he's strong at the rim and excellent in transition.
• As a team, Illinois is shooting only 29.5 percent from three-point range. Only three teams in college basketball — Kentucky, Florida A&M and Cleveland State — generate less of their scoring from the three-point shot.
BOTTOM LINE
There's not a whole lot about Purdue's body of work on the road thus far that gives much reason for benefit of the doubt. Not that Illinois has been a pillar of consistency, either. Matchups are such that Purdue's bigs should give Illinois problems and Illinois' bigs should give Purdue problems. Whoever's problems are fewer may have an advantage, but the whistles will matter, too, and whistles often go to the home team. Purdue's guards haven't done a great job this season against high-pressure teams and they've not shot great away from Mackey Arena for the most part. They have to prove they're up to it in this one. Until they do, the home team has to be considered the favorite here.
GoldandBlack.com Prediction: ILLINOIS 68, PURDUE 64
Membership Info: Sign up for GoldandBlack.com now | Why join? | Questions?
Follow GoldandBlack.com: Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
More: Gold and Black Illustrated/Gold and Black Express | Subscribe to our podcast
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2019. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited.
