Date: Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2019

Time: 7:15 p.m. ET

Venue: Mackey Arena (West Lafayette)

TV: ESPN

Radio: Purdue Radio Network

Purdue Particulars: Roster | Schedule | Statistics

More: Purdue primer and GoldandBlack.com coverage

Virginia Particulars: Roster | Schedule | Statistics

GoldandBlack.com in-game updates: @GoldandBlackcom | @brianneubert

It's hard to call this a rematch, per se, from Virginia's extraordinary 80-75 overtime win over Purdue in the Elite Eight last year, because both teams have turned over so much, but it is definitely Virginia vs. Purdue in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, this time in Mackey Arena.

Purdue coach Matt Painter didn't rewatch Mamadi Diakite's remarkable game-tying basket from that game until Monday night.

"If we weren’t playing them, I don’t know if I'd have (ever) watched it," Painter said. "I had to do my job. That’s the only reason. Getting No. 2 pencils and jabbing them through my eyeballs is not something I like doing. I don’t enjoy torture."

But ...

"It was an amazing play. I hope I never see it again."

• Purdue's coming off a 1-1 showing at the Emerald Coast Classic in Florida, falling a hair short of winning the event, losing to Florida State in overtime in what was essentially a one-point loss.

Turnovers have been the biggest scourge lately for an offense that's clearly still working to gain its footing.

The Boilermakers have been pretty good defensively — they rank ninth nationally in efficiency, per KenPom.com — and on the glass, outrebounding opponents by an average of nearly 40-30.

• This game is part of the annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Purdue is 10-8 all-time in the Challenge, best in the Big Ten, and are 6-1 at home in the event.

Virginia Particulars: Roster | Schedule | Statistics

• This is a very different Virginia team than the one Purdue saw In Louisville last spring. Stars DeAndre Hunter, Ty Jerome and Kyle Guy left for the professional ranks and big man Jack Salt graduated, putting the Cavs In much the same position as Purdue, where last year's complementary players are now its best players.

So far, so good, though, to this point for UVA, which Is 7-0, ranked fifth In the AP — this would be the first win ever for Purdue in Mackey Arena vs. a top-five non-conference opponent, per Purdue — and second in the coaches poll.

• Virginia is down a key player, literally, as senior Braxton Key is out indefinitely after reportedly undergoing wrist surgery. One of the Cavaliers' most experienced players, Key averaged 10.3 points and 8.3 rebounds through the first six games of the season.

• Per usual, Virginia has been stifling defensively through its first seven games of the season. UVA is yielding an average of only 40.3 points per game, on 28.8-percent combined shooting. No one's scored more than 55 vs. the Cavaliers thus far, and their last opponent, Maine, scored 26. Syracuse isn't great this season, by any means, but it managed only 34 at the Carrier Dome in the season opener against Virginia.

Some of that obviously has to do with tempo and pace, which Virginia manages to the furthest extent to keep possessions low.

Virginia plays at the slowest tempo in college basketball, according to KenPom, 353rd nationally, and only that Maine team consumes more shot clock per average possession than the Cavs, at 21.4 seconds, per KenPom estimates.

Purdue takes 19.2 seconds per possession, though probably not entirely by design, shall we say. Purdue, also, is 348th nationally in tempo. So this should be a real track meet, eh?

But Virginia's defensive résumé is not just a product of style.

It's No. 1 nationally in defensive efficiency, per KenPom, and first nationally in effective field goal percentage defense (35.3) two-point field goal percentage defense (33.3), block percentage (18.8) and free throw rate (i.e. keeping opponents off the line).

Obviously, this is going to be a low-scoring game, based on every indicator imaginable, and Purdue's results thus far do raise some red flags about its ability to beat this particular opponent with its particular style. But Virginia is not the offensive power it was last season, either, and is down an important piece. Mackey Arena is always an advantage for Purdue, the Texas outcome notwithstanding.

GoldandBlack.com Prediction: Purdue 54, Virginia 52

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