The two-game December portion of Big Ten play tips off for Purdue and Iowa in Mackey Arena, a matchup between two of the best offenses in college basketball, and a chance for the Boilermakers to earn the first-ever No. 1 ranking in school history come Monday.

Date: Friday, Dec. 3, 2021

Time: 9 p.m. ET

TV: BTN

Radio: Purdue Radio Network (96.5 WAZY locally)

Schedule | Roster | Stats

• Following No. 1 Duke's loss at Ohio State on Tuesday, which followed Purdue's Big Ten/ACC Challenge rout of Florida State, the second-ranked Boilermakers would almost certainly move up to No. 1 in the polls on Monday should they beat the Hawkeyes.

It would be the first-time ever for Purdue.

• Purdue is No. 1 nationally in both points per possession (1.132) and offensive efficiency, according to Synergy Sports and KenPom, respectively.

• Stunningly, the Boilermakers are second nationally in both two-point field goal percentage (behind Gonzaga) and three-point percentage (behind Lipscomb) and fourth in offensive rebounding percentage.

• Purdue hardly ever faces zone defense, because It's been roasting them for years now when it does. Iowa has played zone about a quarter of the time this season, while also mixing in some modest backcourt pressure and trapping. This could be one of the more diversified defenses the Boilermakers have seen this season.

STARTERS

C — 15 Zach Edey (7-4, 295, So.)

16.9 PPG • 73.8% FG • 82.4 FT • 7.1 REB • 18.6 MIN • 10 BLK

Purdue's Big Ten opener will come against an opponent that's transitioning out of the Luka Garza Era, meaning the matchup at the 5 isn't nearly as daunting. It will be interesting to see if Iowa becomes the first team this season to run zone against Purdue in hopes of clogging up the paint.

F — 3 Caleb Furst (6-10, 230, Fr.)

9.1 PPG • 7.4 RPG • 62.9% FG • 45.5% 3-PT

The freshman forward tries so hard that productivity sort of finds him. He has this knack for flashing open on offense or appearing at the basket for putbacks, seemingly from out of nowhere. There's no overstating how steady and important he's been to Purdue's success. No matter who Iowa plays at the 4, Furst will have a tough defensive matchup.

G —23 Jaden Ivey (6-4, 195, So.)

15.4 PPG • 52% FG • 43.3% 3-PT • 6.3 REB • 3.9 AST • 10 STL

Purdue's main perimeter scorer, tempo-setter, facilitator and decision-maker, Ivey has been excellent this season and has been the element that's brought the Boilermakers from good to great on offense. His presumed defensive assignment against sharp-shooter Jordan Bohannon will be just as important, though, in this game.

G — 55 Sasha Stefanovic (6-5, 205, Sr.)

12.9 PPG • 46.8% 3-PT • 4.9 AST

Stefanovic is one of the most gifted shooters in the country, but a fine overall offensive player. Look at those assist numbers. That's a sign of an offensive operation functioning at a really high level, because Stefanovic isn't a playmaker so much as he's a ball-mover and entry man, both of which he does exceptionally well.

G —11 Isaiah Thompson (6-1, 160, Jr.)

7.4 PPG • 60.9% 3-PT

An ideal complementary piece to Ivey and Purdue's bigs, Thompson's taking all the right shots and making the majority of them. He and Eric Hunter will need to make Iowa PG Joe Toussaint sweat on the defensive end, while also being solid with the ball when Iowa throws that three-quarter-court trap at them.

ROTATION

C — 50 Trevion Williams (6-10, 255, Sr.)

12.3 PPG • 64.8% FG • 7.4 REB • 2.4 AST • 9 STL

As formidable a low-post scorer as there is, Williams' scoring against Florida State came mostly off the dribble, facing the basket, shots that would win him some H-O-R-S-E rounds. Credit Williams for really giving great effort defending on the perimeter, which will never be his calling card.

G — 5 Brandon Newman (6-5, 200, So.)

9.9 PPG • 42.1% 3-PT • 92.9% FT

Newman played his best game of the season against Florida State, making a bunch of shots, but also playing with a poise and patience that have sometimes eluded him, against the highest-pressure defense Purdue's seen this season. Now, building on success becomes the goal, a challenge he struggled with last season.

G — 25 Ethan Morton (6-6, 215, So.)

2.1 PPG • 2.0 REB • 2.0 AST • 8 STL

Morton's passing during a key second-half stretch against FSU stabilized Purdue in a vulnerable moment and helped shut that game down.

G — 2 Eric Hunter (6-4, 175, Sr.)

3.6 PPG • 1.4 AST

It's surely been a process for Hunter acclimating to this time-share role off the bench, but in Big Ten play, his potential as an on-ball defender takes on even more importance.

F — 0 Mason Gillis (6-6, 230, So.)

4.0 PPG • 3.0 REB (3 GAMES)

There's probably a bit of rust here still, but Gillis has made a couple of signature-type Gillis plays on the offensive glass lately, and he's going to make threes at a higher rate than he has over this small sample size thus far.

Freshmen Trey Kaufman-Renn and Brian Waddell will redshirt this season. Waddell will miss most of the season after tearing his ACL.

Schedule | Roster | Stats

• While Purdue's No. 1 nationally in points per possession, Iowa is No. 2 at 1.117. While Purdue is first in offensive efficiency, per KenPom, Iowa is third.

• Keegan Murray has erupted as a sophomore and emerged as not just one of the best players in the Big Ten, but the nation.

The athletic and multi-skilled 6-foot-8 forward averages nearly 25 points per game.

He did hurt his right ankle at Virginia earlier this week, but returned to the game after a brief return to the locker room.

Every indication from the Iowa end has been that Murray intends to play, but the extent of his availability would be worth monitoring.

His brother, Kris, would start in his place if Keegan Murray can't start — or play. Kris Murray Is no slouch either. He's shooting 61 percent from three-point range.

• The average Hawkeye possession averages just 14.8 seconds. That's the seventh-fastest nationally. (Purdue: 17 seconds)

• Iowa is No. 1 nationally in turnover percentage on offense, according to KenPom, at just 11.5 percent.

STARTERS

F - 15 Keegan Murray (6-8, 225, So.)

24.6 PPG • 8.9 REB • 61.2% FG • 34.5% 3-PT • 2.3 BLK

F - 0 Filip Rebraca (6-9, 230, Sr.)

6.1 PPG • 7.0 REB • 65.4% FG

F - 22 Patrick McCaffery (6-9, 200, Jr.)

11.4 PPG • 2.4 RPG • 2.2 AST

G - 3 Jordan Bohannon (6-1, 175, Sr.)

11.4 PPG • 44.7% 3-PT

G - 2 Joe Touissant (6-0, 190, J.)

6.3 PPG • 4.3 AST • 51.4% FG • 50% 3-PT (3-6)

KEY RESERVES

F - 24 Kris Murray (6-8, 225, So.)

11.7 PPG • 6.0 REB • 61.1% 3-PT

G - 30 Connor McCaffery (6-5, 205, Sr.)

1.1 PPG • 3.3 RPG • 2.9 AST

G - 4 Ahron Ulis (6-3, 195, So.)

3.7 PPG • 3.0 AST

Stay dialed in to GoldandBlack.com during the game for our pre-game First Thoughts analysis. During the game, follow along with our game thread and follow @brianneubert on Twitter for additional insight.

Following the game, we'll have post-game press conference video, game coverage, analysis, our Wrap Video and Final Thoughts, plus a Gold and Black Radio podcast within a few hours of the end of the game.

Stay tuned.

It bears mentioning that when Purdue visited Iowa around this time a year ago, it was almost the opposite story. The Hawkeyes were highly ranked and Purdue a very different team from the year before playing a daunting Big Ten road game right off the bat in conference play. (That was a Dec. 22 game, as the schedule last year was jacked up.)

That game, Iowa played one of the better defensive games it's played against Purdue.

This Boilermaker team, though, is an entirely different animal, and while the Boilermakers will face some challenges stopping an excellent Iowa offense that will spread them out and shoot a lot of threes from a lot of positions, Purdue's offense has been extraordinary, and that likely won't change on Friday night.

Keegan Murray's ankle issues could add another considerable degree of difficulty for the visitors.

Expect Purdue to top the polls come lunchtime on Monday.

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