Game Preview - #1 Purdue (23-2) at Northwestern (17-7)

For just the second time this year, Purdue had to play after a loss. They responded again, taking out Iowa at home behind a career-high from Braden Smith and another Zach Edey double-double. Purdue's loss at IU was the first loss on the road for the Boilermakers. They'll now get the chance to win in Evanston against a rugged Northwestern team exceeding early season expectations.

Northwestern has been one of the Big Ten's best road teams in their own right. They're coming off of back to back wins on the road with victories at Wisconsin and Ohio State.

Northwestern is one of four Big Ten schools now ties for second in the conference with 5 conference losses. Purdue, of course, is leading the Big Ten by three games. Their magic number is down to 3 to guarantee their 25th Big Ten Championship.

For Northwestern this is the start of a three game home stands before they finish the season on the road for 3 of their last 4 games.

Purdue will go to Northwestern on Sunday and then travel to Maryland on Thursday for back to back road games. Purdue will then finish the season with three of four games at home.

If Purdue wins their next three games, they will have a chance to guarantee the Big Ten Title just for themselves against IU at home on February 25th.

Northwestern's success has been almost entirely dependent on their defense. They get after teams, forcing turnovers on 21.8% of possessions, and they protect the rim at an elite level.

In their best win of the season, going into Assembly Hall, they forced the Hoosiers into 16 turnovers. In their last win, they forced Ohio State into 15 turnovers.

Purdue's two losses this season has come when Purdue turns the ball over. Against Rutgers they gave the ball up 13 times and against IU, 16 turnovers were the difference in the game.

Northwestern doesn't have the length either of those teams have at the guard and wing spots, but they will pressure Purdue's ball carriers and try to disrupt what's been one of the most efficient offenses in the country.

Purdue has a significant advantage against Northwestern when it comes to depth. Northwestern plays just 8 guys and their offensive burden falls heavily on Boo Buie and Chase Audige. They are both also on the court a lot. Both players average 34 minutes a game.

Purdue has just one player averaging more than 30 minutes a game, Zach Edey.

Which brings in the other question that teams have to answer for when playing the favorite for National Player of the Year. How can they possibly contain the big man?

Northwestern's big man, Matt Nicholson, is one of the beefier options in the Big Ten, standing 7 foot and weighing 255 lbs.. He still gives up 4 inches and almost forty pounds to the Boiler big man.

He's done an admirable job of rim protecting. Northwestern is in the top twenty in the nation for block percentage. Nicholson has the 50th best block rate in the country while averaging 1.3 blocks a game. He also usually plays about half a game for Northwestern, but against Edey, he will be asked to play as much as possible while not getting into foul trouble. With just three regulars coming off the bench, Northwestern might have to sacrifice even more offense by going to seldomly used Tydus Verhoeven or freshman Luke Hunger to try and not get overwhelmed by Edey.

Northwestern's offense has struggled this season. They're just inside the top 100 for efficiency on KenPom. But Audige and Buie are too dynamic scorers with the ball in their hands, capable of making shots and getting to the hoop.

They're both averaging over 16 points a game and have the green light to shoot at will. Both players have attempted more than 140 threes on the season.

Purdue will continue to do what they try to do to every team - force perimeter players off the three-point line and hold them in the difficult mid-range. That's something Audige in particular has been a little too willing to do this season. He's an inefficient 42% inside the arc on the season.

Buie is much more likely to try and attack the rim but at just 6-2, it will be a tall task to get by Purdue's Zach Edey inside. Purdue's ;defense has been one of the nation's best at limiting opponents looks at the rim while also holding teams to just 30.5% shooting from three.

If Northwestern were to pull off the upset, expect one or more of these three names to have big games, particularly from beyond the arc.

Ty Berry is a 6-3 guard that's struggled to score efficiently beyond the arc, but that's not from a lack of trying. He's shooting 30% from three but has attempted 120 of them on the season. Last year, he made 38% of his 133 attempts. There's a good shooter there and he's shown himself very capable of getting hot. Against Nebraska he had a season-high 26 points sparked by a 6 of 12 from three performance.

Brooks Barnhizer is a sophomore that offers good length on the wing. He's also struggled to connect from distance, but he's coming off a 4 of 7 three-point performance and a career-high 19 points at Ohio State that helped spark Northwestern's road win.

Senior Robbie Beran has been one of Northwestern's steadiest hands. He's got good size at 6-9 and 4 of 10 from three in his last two games. He's a career 36% shooter from three.

Buie and Audige are great players, but neither will be enough to beat Purdue on their own. If Northwestern is gonna challenge Purdue, even at home, it's going to need one of their other three shooters to get hot.