EMERALD COAST CLASSIC (ON-CAMPUS)
Date: Saturday, Nov. 23
Time: 8 p.m.
Venue: Mackey Arena (West Lafayette)
TV: BTN
Radio: Purdue Radio Network
Purdue Particulars: Roster | Schedule | Statistics
More: Purdue primer and GoldandBlack.com coverage
Jacksonville State Particulars: Roster | Schedule | Statistics
GoldandBlack.com in-game updates: @GoldandBlackcom | @brianneubert
PURDUE BOILERMAKERS (2-2)
ABOUT PURDUE
• This game is part of the Emerald Coast Classic, which will resume off campus next weekend, as Purdue will meet VCU Friday, then either Florida State or Tennessee Saturday.
• Purdue's will have had a full week between games now, an opportunity to practice, an opportunity Matt Painter covets in-season.
An emphasis: Getting the ball inside, where Matt Haarms in particularly has been under-used.
Haarms said Purdue has spent the week working on the post-entry game, including the guards and wings having to handle pressure on the perimeter as passers.
"We're saying, 'Throw it inside every time,'" Haarms said. ..."(Painter) is really making an effort to call guys out, to make sure they're throwing the ball inside, to make sure they're looking inside."
Through four games, Haarms has only gotten 12 post-up opportunities.
• Sophomore guard Sasha Stefanovic sat out the second half vs. Chicago State after apparently aggravating the foot issue — he calls it a chipped bone — he's been dealing with, then sat out practice Monday and Tuesday, but did practice on Thursday.
JACKSONVILLE STATE GAMECOCKS (1-2)
Jacksonville State Particulars: Roster | Schedule | Statistics
ABOUT JACKSONVILLE STATE
• Jacksonville State has played two relatively prominent programs already this season and fell 74-65 at SMU and then 93-65 to ranked VCU, Purdue's next opponent.
• Gamecock coach Ray Harper is one win away from the 500th of his head coachig career, which has also included stops at Kentucky Wesleyan, Oklahoma City and Western Kentucky, from which he resigned after three of his players were suspended by the university.
He entered the season with a 67-37 at Jacksonville State, an Ohio Valley member.
Painter has called Harper "one of the best coaches in the country."
• This is Jacksonville, Alabama, by the way.
One random, distant connection: Former Purdue center Isaac Haas' mother, Rachel works for the university.
Jacksonville is about 20 miles from Hokes Bluff, where Isaac Haas went to high school.
BOTTOM LINE
Purdue's had a week to fine-tune some things, and while Jacksonville State is a far more credible opponent than last weekend's opponent, Chicago State, It shouldn't stack up particularly well against the Boilermakers on their home floor.
GoldandBlack.com Prediction: Purdue 82, Jacksonville State 64
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