Game Preview - #1 Purdue vs #22 Indiana at Assembly Hall

College basketball landscapes don't usually move this quickly, but in the state of Indiana, two storied teams have started to take different shapes in the last decade.

IU is a plucky, rebuilding team focused around a tremendous inside talent, battling through coaching regime changes and injuries this season to try and return to prominence.

Purdue's coach Matt Painter has steadily pushed Purdue's program to the top of college basketball. Last year, the Boilermakers were ranked #1 for the first time in program history. This season, Purdue will come into Assembly Hall with a unanimous #1 ranking and the best record in college basketball. It is the seventh week Purdue has been on top of the AP poll. AP voters can be fickle, but one could easily argue, win or lose at IU, Purdue would still garner and deserve recognition as the nation's #1 team.

It's been nearly forty years since IU last won a National Title. Last year was IU's first trip back to the NCAA Tournament since 2016.

For Purdue, the #1 ranking last year could only get them so far. Their loss to #15 seeded St. Peter's was another highlighted disappointment for a program and coach defined by their success everywhere but March. Painter is still looking to break through for his first Final Four run.

But first, Purdue looks to do what it's done more than any other program in the Big Ten, and that is to win the Big Ten Title. It would be their 25th Big Ten Championship. They will go into Bloomington with a three game lead in the conference with an 11-1 conference record. Their lone loss being a one point home loss to Rutgers.

Since that game, Purdue has rattled off 9 straight wins, good for the fourth longest active winning streak in the country.

IU's five game win streak was just snapped on the road at Maryland with the Terrapins winning 66-55, giving IU its fifth in-conference loss.

Purdue is 22-1 on the season. Indiana is 15-7.

But when great rivalries get together, things like records and talent seem to matter a little less. Environments, history, and whatever magic between two of the most basketball universities in the world takes center stage. For the first time in 11 games, IU beat Purdue last season at Assembly Hall. Purdue is 4-1 in the last 5 games in Bloomington.

But this will be the first time since 2016 when both teams will tip-off against each other while ranked.

It's going to be a good one.

- Purdue leads the all-time series between these two programs 125-90, including winning 10 of the last 11 meetings.

- This will be the first time since 2016 when the Boilermakers and Hoosiers will play as ranked teams. It's only the third-time that this has happened since Matt Painter has been a coach at Purdue. All three of the match ups have coincidentally occurred in Assembly Hall.

- Indiana leads 9-8 in games played with both teams ranked all-time.

- Matt Painter is 8-7 all-time at Assembly Hall. Before Painter, Purdue was just 7-26 in the building.

Purdue is 11-0 away from Mackey Arena this season.

Part of that, might be their freshman point guard's love of road games. Talking with Braden Smith ahead of the game at IU, the Westfield native discussed his pension for playing against hostile crowds and how he's thrived throughout his career in those environments.

"It started in high school. I didn't like home games," he would say in comparison to road games. "I just love when people are against you, yelling at you. Just kinda gets you going."

The diminutive guard is coming off one of his most impressive performances against Penn State, where he racked up 9 assists next to 0 turnovers.

What's he expecting from the Assembly Hall crowd?

"They definitely say some stuff to you that probably shouldn't be said out loud," he said.

The marquee match-up in college basketball will be Zach Edey and Trayce Jackson-Davis when Purdue and Indiana goes at it.

Purdue's been very vocal about their belief that Edey has been the best player in the entire country. Most the national media agrees, and there's not much drama to the statement. But, if there was a player that could challenge Edey, especially with his recent play, it would be Trayce Jackson-Davis whose game has elevated in Big Ten player, particularly in the last few games.

"Trayce Jackson-Davis is just having one of the best years in college basketball. Just hard to deal with whether he has the ball on the perimeter or he has the ball in the mid-post or low post. Just have to know where he is at all times," Matt Painter said on Friday ahead of Purdue's trip south.

Last year, Jackson-Davis got in foul trouble against Purdue at Assembly Hall, but Lafayette native Robert Phinesee was able to play hero for the Hoosiers.

KenPom has Jackson-Davis as the third best player in college. He has the highest block rate in the Big Ten, plays the second most percent of minutes for his team, and has been the best defensive rebounder over Edey. He's scored 18 points in 8 of his last 9 games and has failed to achieve a double-double in just 2 of his last 9 games.

Edey has been the best offensive rebounder in the country, has the highest percentage of possessions finished in the conference, and draws more fouls than any other player in the Big Ten. He's averaging just under 25 points per game in his last four.

But most fascinating is the style discrepancy between the two players despite both players living almost exclusively in the paint. Jackson-Davis is a twitch-fast, explosive leaper capable of scoring off the bounce or in the post. His game has expanded as a play maker, finishing his possessions with an assist more than 20% of the time now, but he's still not shown himself capable of making jump shots.

Edey's also expanded as a passer, but his dominance has been about improving on the defensive end, particularly around the basket where teams are both not effective or that willing to challenge him. Who will get the better of the other inside? The leaping left-hander or the giant 7'4 post anchor?

Braden Smith might like road games, but his counter part is the exact kind of guard that can give him trouble. Jalen Hood-Schifino is a big guard, shooting better from three than the floor, and capable of getting hot in a hurry. His last home game, he went off against Ohio State, making 6 of 7 from three.

"Hood-Schifino is a really talented player and very dangerous," Painter said Friday. To defend him, he'll ask his guys to crowd Hood-Schifino and not allow him the space to get going.

Expect Purdue to not put just one guy on him. Ethan Morton has the length to bother jumper shooters and has been Purdue's perimeter lock down defender this season.

No decision has been made public on if Mason Gillis' 9-three point night is enough to earn him the starting role back. When asked directly if Painter has thought about putting Gillis back into his starting rotation, the coach didn't give anything away.

"I think about it," he acknowledged. Regardless of if Gillis comes off the bench or gets the starting nod, his three-point shooting will be much needed against a defense that doubles quickly, and has made it a focus to keep the ball out of the middle of the floor and paint.

"They're a good defensive team. They do a good job of keeping the ball out of the paint," Painter said.

Gillis's 9 three-pointers was a record for a Purdue player at Mackey Arena. Last year, Gillis was Purdue's second-leading scorer at IU with 13 points. He made 3 of 4 three-pointers that night. With IU's propensity to double in the post, kick outs to shooters will result in likely open three-point looks for the players around Zach Edey.

It will be Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer's first, first-hand experience with the Purdue-IU rivalry though both had exposure to the event as kids growing up.

For David Jenkins Jr., he had heard of the rivalry, obviously, but Indiana basketball is a long way from Tacoma, Washington where he grew up playing.

"I knew a little bit about it before I even got here," he said on Friday. "When I first got here, everyone's like man, I know it's a long way away but are you ready for this Purdue-IU game?"

Jenkins Jr. isn't new to basketball traditions and rivalries, though some of his past rivalries might have taken a different flavor than what even IU fans will give to the Purdue players.

South Dakota State's rivalry with South Dakota could get a little hare-y, he would explain. According to former players and coaches he talked to, "Back in the day, they would freeze dead jack rabbits and throw them on the court sometimes."

Whether real or not, IU fans do at least have the sense to not bring carcasses to throw on the court. Usually.

IU has quietly transformed themselves into one of the nation's best shooting teams. They are shooting 38% from three, 54.5% from inside the three, and have the 16th best effective field goal rate in the country.

Purdue is holding teams to 30.4% from three and just 46.1% from inside the arc. They are the 24th best defense towards effective field goal percentage. They are the 18th best defense in the country.

Purdue edges IU on the glass, something IU will try to limit by making their shots. A novel concept, no doubt.