Purdue at Nebraska - Game Preview

Purdue is #1 in the nation. There's no debate about who has been the best team this season.

But the Boilers and Matt Painter went into the Big Ten with a loss in its first conference game and has work to do still to get back on top of the conference and win another Big Ten Conference Championship. It gets its second road test, traveling to Lincoln, Nebraska during a blizzard to take on a Cornhuskers team that gave Purdue all it could handle last season.

It took overtime for Purdue to get past Nebraska in an ugly 65-62 win that saw Zach Edey play more than forty minutes and limited to just 11 points.

Instead, Fletcher Loyer had his first breakout game, scoring a then career-high 22 points including his first and only dunk of his career.

Now a rebuilt Fred Hoiberg Nebraska squad, around a starting Keisei Tominaga, will look to pull off the upset after going down hard to a good Wisconsin team on the road on Saturday.

Purdue is coming off an 83-78 win over Illinois at home and will be looking for its second road victory of the year.

Last year's trip to Nebraska for Purdue turned out to be something of a premonition for a #1 Purdue team that might have had a few more issues than its record indicated.

Nebraska was the first team last year to really sell out to deny Zach Edey the ball. Nebraska did it by doubling early, showing a man in front, and help behind. When that didn't work, they'd have a third guy around Edey. It was clear the only thing it cared about was not letting Edey beat them inside and to force other Boilers to not turn the ball over, and beat them. It almost worked.

Fletcher Loyer had 22 points, an emphatic dunk, and carried Purdue's offense. Edey had just 11 points despite playing over 40 minutes in the overtime matchup.

Edey also had five turnovers, a byproduct of the relentless doubles and triple teams sent towards him by Nebraska the whole game.

Nebraska didn't have the roster to handle Edey one on one. No one does. It has even less of a chance this year, and so it's likely that the strategy to handle Edey by Fred Hoiberg will be similar.

Painter won't be surprised, and this team, this version of Purdue, it has an answer to Edey denial in the post.

One answer, is Trey Kaufman-Renn. It was the idea behind moving another post player into the starting lineup with Edey. How many teams can handle two guys that are mismatches in the post?

Illinois couldn't, and while Edey was limited to just five field goals in five attempts, Kaufman-Renn scored 23 points on just 11 field goal attempts.

But Purdue's offense is different in a key way this year. It's evolved. It's no longer just beautiful motion, dangerous shooters running off screens and curls, or post ups. It's not longer just clever ways to get its bigs looks inside.

Now Purdue's offense is organic, living, changing as the game goes, orchestrated and set on fire by its brilliant sophomore point guard, Braden Smith.

Smith's evolution in the pick and roll has changed what defensives can do against Arizona. He can score off the dribble so dropping becomes problematic. He has unique and effective dance partners that make one defensive game plan on screens a dead on a arrival strategy. Edey is as good a roller as there is in college. If he catches the ball on the move, you're dead. He's getting fouled or a dunk.

Mason Gillis is deadly in the pick and pop. The middle opens up for Smith to use. Shooters around them get good looks. Kaufman-Renn does a little of both. They all set good screens.

Look for Purdue to not put Edey in as many difficult positions in the post this game if it doesn't have to. The keys will be in Smith's hands, using Edey up top, and getting the ball in the big man's hands on the move.

Look for Kaufman-Renn to continue to be a focal point on the post opposite of Edey as well.

Keisei Tominaga is one of college basketball's most interesting guards on the court. He doesn't pass the ball. He doesn't defend.

He does shoot the hell out of the ball though, and has done so in a surprisingly efficient fashion according to the shots he's taken. He's over 35% from three, and hasn't seen a jump shot he doesn't like. He's been good inside the arc, making over 60% of his two-pointers, and he's gone to the James Harden school of trying to draw contact on his shots and drives.

It was effective against Purdue last year. A decent lead melted under Tominaga's unique brand of shot-making. He had 19 points in the first matchup between teams, including four three-pointers. He made four more inside of Mackey Arena in the second contest, including another four made three-pointers.

This year's Purdue squad has an answer last year's squad didn't in Lance Jones. It will be one of the more fascinating matchups of the basketball season. Jones has the quickness, and more so, physicality that could give Tominaga issues scoring and getting into the paint.

Jones could also pick up four fouls in ten minutes. Tominaga pulls up in ways that makes pressing him a precarious proposition. Bump him slightly when he pulls up unexpectedly and pick up a cheap foul. Jones has had a few games this year where he's gotten a bit too physical or behind on a player and gotten into foul trouble. That's death against someone as crafty and without conscience as Tominaga.

But the addition of Jones has helped change the way this Purdue team plays on both ends. Matchups like this, in combination of adding Camden Heide and already having Ethan Morton, highlight Purdue's growth on the defensive end.

That said, isolation players have caused Purdue problems.

Will Tominaga do it again against Purdue or will Purdue find an answer for the little guard that shoots from everywhere?

It's a roster that doesn't look too familiar from last year's.

Fred Hoiberg has once again gone to the transfer portal to build out his roster.

His starting center, Rienk Mast, is a senior that's transferred from Bradley. He's a stretch five that's capable of pulling Edey from the paint, but just 6'10 and a liability in pick and roll defense.

Brice Williams is a wing that's come over from Charlotte for his senior year.

Juwan Gary is on his second year at Nebraska after playing at Alabama in his first two seasons.

Jaron Coleman is on his final year after playing at Ball State once, Missouri, then Ball State again before heading to Nebraska. He's an Indianapolis, Indiana native.

Josiah Allick transferred to Nebraska after transferring to New Mexico for just the one season last year.

There's no reason to belabor the point of transfers and the current state of college sports except to note that the usual familiarity between Big Ten teams doesn't necessarily hold true in every matchup anymore.