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Published Dec 28, 2018
GOLDANDBLACK.COM PREVIEW: Purdue vs. Belmont
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Brian Neubert  •  BoilerUpload
GoldandBlack.com staff
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More: Purdue 2018-19 roster | 2018-19 men's basketball schedule

More ($): Fearful Predictions — Purdue's 2018-19 season | Burning Questions

Saturday, Dec. 29, 2018 • 4:30 p.m. ET | Mackey Arena (West Lafayette, Ind.) | TV: FS1 | Radio: Purdue Radio Network

In-game updates: Twitter.com — @GoldandBlackcom | @brianneubert

Our premium board game thread and pre-game thoughts can be found roughly an hour prior to tip-off

ABOUT THIS GAME

• Belmont is 9-1, with three top-100 KenPom wins to its credit, including a 74-72 win at UCLA, and is considered one of the top mid-major teams in college basketball this season.

• Known to play fast, the Bruins are ranked seventh nationally in scoring, averaging 89-and-a-half points per game, and scored 87 or more in each of their first seven games this season, including a 100-92 road loss to Linc Darner's Green Bay. Belmost hasn't topped 76, though, in any of its last three games, but beat Lipscomb, UCLA and Western Kentucky nonetheless.

They'll get a lot of shots up, shoot a lot of threes, and get scoring from all over the floor. Five Bruins average between 19.2 and 11.5 points.

• Belmont recruits Indiana heavily and has four Hoosier State players on its roster currently, including leading scorer Dylan Windler of Perry Meridian in Indy. Windler was a grassroots teammate of Purdue senior Ryan Cline, as was big man Seth Adelsperger (Peru).

• While this might not qualify as a clear résumé win for Purdue, it would be a good one as it stands today, since Belmont is a top-100 KenPom team and current ranked 40th in the NCAA's new RPI, the NET rankings.

NUMBERS AND SUCH
TeamAPCoachesNETKenPomKenPom - Win%

Purdue

ARV

38

19

85%

Belmont

ARV

ARV

40

75

15%

PURDUE BOILERMAKERS (7-5, 1-1 B1G)

Roster | Schedule | Statistics

Projected Rotation

12 F/C Evan Boudreaux (6-8, 220, Jr.)

Boudreaux moved into the starting five before the break, a more familiar role for him considering his background at Dartmouth. Belmont does present some post-defense challenges that Purdue must be wary of.

24 F Grady Eifert (6-6, 220, Sr.)

14 G/F Ryan Cline (6-6, 195, Sr.)

Purdue will certainly hope that Cline's outburst against Ohio before the holidays represents his return to form from earlier in the season after a two-and-a-half-game shooting slump.

20 G Nojel Eastern (6-6, 220, So.)

Purdue’s best chance to reverse its fortunes after the holidays lies on defense, where Eastern can be its tone-setter. The Boilermakers aren’t getting enough pressure on opposing guards against good teams, but that’s not as issue with Eastern.

3 G Carsen Edwards (6-1, 200, Jr.)

KEY PLAYERS

32 C - Matt Haarms (7-3, 250, So.)

Matt Painter moved Boudreaux into the starting five before the holidays, hoping a reserve role may rekindle the energy that sort of defined Haarms last season as a redshirt freshman.

1 F Aaron Wheeler (6-9, 200, R-Fr.)

2 G Eric Hunter (6-3, 170, Fr.)

55 G Sasha Stefanovic (6-4, 195, R-Fr.)

50 C Trevion Williams (6-8, 220, Jr.)

The freshman big man has seemingly moved into a meaningful role in the rotation, and a role in which he stands out, as well. He's the Boilermakers' most formidable presence at the rim and Purdue's most back-to-the-basket-minded scoring option down low. He's produced every chance he's gotten lately, but he's still a freshman, remember. Challenges, particularly defensively, will continue to present themselves.

BELMONT BRUINS (9-1)

Roster | Schedule | Stats

F - 3 Dylan Windler (6-8, 200, Sr.)

Windler's one of the top mid-major players in college basketball. The perimeter-oriented wing/forward may be one of the trickier matchups Purdue sees this season. He's all of 6-8, but really good off the dribble, excellent at finishing around the basket in a variety of ways and a 36-percent three-point shooter. He's averaging 19.2 points, and doing so on better than 51-percent shooting. And he averages better than nine rebounds per game.

F - 10 Caleb Hollander (6-8, 225, R-Fr.)

Hollander, a redshirt freshman, gives Belmont productivity on the glass, averaging 7.3 boards, and a three-point threat.

C - 33 Nick Muszynski (6-11, 235, R-Fr.)

The redshirt freshman big man has been a high-impact addition for the Bruins, averaging 14.1 points on 58-percent shooting through the first 10 games on his college career. Most of his scoring comes around the rim, but he can shoot threes, too.

G - 2 Grayson Murphy (6-2, 175, R-Fr.)

Another redshirt freshman, Belmont's point guard produces all across the board, averaging a dozen points, nearly seven assists, with a 3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, five rebounds and 41-plus-percent shooting from three.

G - 11 Kevin McClain (6-3, 190, Sr.)

McClain averages 12-and-a-half points.

KEY PLAYERS

G - 24 Michael Benkert (6-4, 200, Jr.)

The Center Grove High School product gives Belmont versatility and another three-point threat off the bench.

C - 50 Seth Adelsperger (6-11, 230, Jr.)

The Peru native gives the Bruins a Big Ten-type body in the post, making Belmont one of the few mid-majors out there to possess depth when it comes to size in the post.

G - 14 Nick Hopkins (6-0, 175, Jr.)

THREE THINGS
DEFENSIVE ATTENTIVENESSENERGYDECISION-MAKING

Belmont is one of the better offensive teams in college basketball, a team Purdue must make work for its scoring. The Boilermakers have been prone to breakdowns defensively, which the Bruins would be well-equipped to exploit. Purdue hasn't shown a great deal of cohesiveness on D and could use some coming off the break.

Purdue can make up for some of its flaws simply by playing with great effort and enthusiasm, one would think, and that's probably more likely to happen at home than it might be otherwise. The holiday break is always a land mine, though. We'll see if the layoff affected the Boilermakers adversely or not.

This will matter every single game for Purdue all season long. Belmont might have some real success offensively against Purdue, which can't allow itself to get baited into shootout mode. It would be wise to make sure it gets the best possession it can get every time. That sounds elementary, but the basics still loom large for this team.

PREDICTION: PURDUE 82, BELMONT 78

A lot's going to have to go right for the Boilermakers in this one, but Mackey Arena may be a difference-maker for Purdue in what might be a really high-scoring game.

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