The 411: #3 Purdue vs. #24 Wisconsin

Big Ten play resumes for a pair of teams who opened 1-1 during the two-game December swing, as No. 3 Purdue hosts No. 24 Wisconsin in Mackey Arena.

Date: Monday, Jan. 3, 2021

Time: 7 p.m. ET

TV: BTN

Radio: Purdue Radio Network (96.5 WAZY locally)

Schedule | Roster | Stats

• The Boilermakers just completed their fourth-ever unbeaten non-conference season, closing that out with buy-game wins over Incarnate Word and Nicholls to finish 11-0 in non-Big Ten games.

• Purdue opens Big Ten play as the most efficient offensive team in college basketball, per KenPom. The Boilermakers are second nationally in effective field goal percentage, fifth in three-point percentage and sixth in offensive rebounding percentage.

• After missing the Nicholls game while in COVID "health and safety protocols," freshman Caleb Furst has returned to the team and will be available against Wisconsin. That said, he hasn't practiced much and will likely be eased back into a prominent role while Mason Gillis continues to start.

STARTERS

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

13.3 PPG • 61% FG • 9.1 REB • 3.2 AST

Purdue's going inside first and foremost, and it's once again on the senior big man to get the Boilermakers off to solid starts, but also dictate the terms of play around the basket throughout the game. There's nothing in the Big Ten like Purdue's combination of Williams and Zach Edey. The Boilermakers need to milk that unique advantage for all it's worth this conference season.

F — 0 Mason Gillis (6-6, 230, So.)

6.6 PPG • 3.1 REB • 54.8% FG • 47.1% 3-PT

Gillis moved into the starting five because of Furst's absence, but he was playing really well before that anyway, and his value often comes out more in Big Ten-style basketball. He's a tone-setter on the glass, Purdue's most vocal defensive player, so much of its energy. He's making threes and has been practically flawless at the foul line, too.

G —23 Jaden Ivey (6-4, 195, So.)

16.7 PPG • 52.8% FG • 45.2% 3-PT • 5.1 REB • 3.2 AST • 1.3 STL

Now come some challenges for Ivey, who'll be grabbed, held and bumped way more during the Big Ten than he was before, and may not find quite as many opportunities to just race past everyone in the open floor. These are going to be lower-scoring, lower-possession games now, during which all the little things are magnified. He's done a great job with his decision-making all season and must continue to do so. He can also be part of Purdue's solution defensively as well. His Big Ten Player-of-the-Year run starts now.

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

11.5 PPG • 43.8% 3-PT • 3.9 AST

Everyone in the Big Ten knows one another well. They definitely know Stefanovic and have historically game-planned defensively for him. He'll have his share of three-point eruptions the next two-plus months, but he'll also create so much scoring for others with the attention he draws and the passes he makes.

G —11 Isaiah Thompson (6-1, 160, Jr.)

6.6 PPG • 51% FG • 52.5% 3-PT

Purdue's running more offense for Thompson than ever before and has been rewarded in the form of him making more than half his threes on the season. When your secondary scoring options are shot-makers and your primary scorers make good decisions — as Ivey, Williams and Zach Edey mostly have — look out.

ROTATION

C — 15 Zach Edey (7-4, 295, So.)

14.9 PPG • 72.8% FG • 7.3 REB • 1.5 BLK

As the games get more physical, that should play to Edey's strengths, but he must rise to that occasion, as well, and get the best position he can get at the offensive end, set solid and legal screens on the guards chasing his teammates around and be a tone-setter on the glass, especially the offensive glass.

G — 2 Eric Hunter (6-4, 175, Sr.)

3.2 PPG • 1.6 AST

The defensive mindset Hunter often plays with is his ticket to a really prominent role and a chance to be Purdue's finisher at times at point guard.

G — 25 Ethan Morton (6-6, 215, So.)

3.0 PPG • 2.4 AST • 50% 3-PT

Morton's been a revelation for Purdue off the bench, with his offensive savvy and defensive versatility covering a lot of bases for the Boilermakers.

G — 5 Brandon Newman (6-5, 200, So.)

7.0 PPG • 33.8% 3-PT • 85% FT

Newman made some shots against Nicholls after a cold stretch, and if that signals some rhythm forthcoming for him, his potential to be instant offense in reserve can be a game-changer. Purdue needs him to keep making good decisions with his shot selection but also dial in defensively.

F — 3 Caleb Furst (6-10, 230, Fr.)

6.2 PPG • 5.8 RPG • 54% FG

After a Protocol Hiatus, expect Furst to be eased back into things, meaning more minutes for Morton at the 4.

Freshmen Trey Kaufman-Renn and Brian Waddell will redshirt this season. Waddell will miss most of the season after tearing his ACL and Kaufman-Renn is now sidelined up to six weeks after undergoing foot surgery.

Schedule | Roster | Stats

• Johnny Davis has blown up this season, establishing himself as an elite player as a sophomore and helping offset Wisconsin's heavy personnel losses from its past several teams. Among that corps of veterans that made up the Badgers' teams the past four or five years, only Brad Davison returned for a sixth year.

Davis is averaging more than 20 points per game and has been leaned on as much as any scorer out there.

He was a teammate this past summer of Purdue's Ivey and Furst on the U.S. 19-and-Under World Cup team that won gold overseas.

• Wisconsin was idle for two weeks due to COVID issues that forced the cancelation of a home game vs. George Mason.

• Wisconsin's first two Big Ten games were a mixed bag, as they fell behind by 20 at home against Indiana before rallying to win, then got waxed at Ohio State 73-55.

The Badgers' other loss this season: To Providence In Madison, but the Friars have been very good this season.

Notable wins: Texas A&M, Houston and St. Mary's on a neutral floor, Georgia Tech on the road and Marquette at home.

Wisconsin did struggle to get past Nicholls in Madison, but that game was played without Davis. Wisconsin then had to scratch and claw to beat Illinois State at the Kohl Center, but that game came after those 14 days off.

• Wisconsin's No. 2 nationally in turnover percentage, averaging just 8.5 per game.

• The numbers suggest this is not a typical Wisconsin team from a shooting perspective. The Badgers are shooting just 40.2 percent from the floor collectivity and only 29.6 percent from three-point range. That turnover column, though, has evened things out some.

• On the heels of its COVID issues, Wisconsin played Illinois State on Wednesday without guards Jahcobi Neath and Lorne Bowman and forward Ben Carlson. Their status seems unknown for the Purdue game. Without them the Badgers are perilously thin; even with them, this group hasn't practiced a whole lot together for the better part of three weeks or so.

STARTERS

C - 22 Steven Crowl (7-0, 234, So.)

8.8 PPG • 4.8 RPG • 32.3% 3-PT

The young 7-footer has shown the ability to step out and make threes, with 10 of them on the season. That's always a headache for Purdue from a matchups perspective.

F - 5 Tyler Wahl (6-9, 221, Jr.)

9.2 PPG • 5.1 RPG • 58.3% FG

Wahl's an important and versatile offensive and defensive piece and crafty interior scorer for Wisconsin, which look to get him post touches against Purdue's forwards. Typical tough Wisconsin guy.

G - 1 Johnny Davis (6-5, 194, So.)

20.8 PPG • 6.6 RPG • 2.5 AST • 34.1% 3-PT • 1.5 STL

One of the Big Ten's many breakout sophomores, along with Ivey, Edey and Iowa's Keegan Murray, Davis has become a star for the Badgers, one of the highest-usage scorers in the country.

"He's an elite offensive and defensive player," said Matt Painter, who obviously paid attention to Davis during the USA Basketball selection process. "He's going to have a great professional career."

G - 34 Brad Davison (6-4, 200, Sr.)

14.5 PPG • 4.3 RPG • 33.7% 3-PT

The Big Ten's most, ahem, clever player is back for his sixth year. All controversies aside, his competitiveness, experience and grit are really important elements for Wisconsin and categories Purdue will have to match while not allowing his grey-area antics to get between its ears.

G - 23 Chucky Hepburn (6-2, 211, Fr.)

7.5 PPG • 2.2 RPG • 2.1 AST

It's not been often that Wisconsin has been young, especially at the key position of point guard. Hepburn is the Badgers' next really good one but for the time being, he's just that: Young.

KEY RESERVES

G - 2 Jordan Davis (6-4, 198, So.)

F - 35 Marcus Ilver (6-8, 219, Fr.)

C - 33 Chris Voght (7-0, 257, Sr.)

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.

On paper, this look like a guard-dominated game, with Purdue's Jaden Ivey vs. Wisconsin's Johnny Davis making for a marquee matchup right out of the gate. But the Boilermakers' size must be more of its identity during this Big Ten season, starting against Wisconsin.

Trevion Williams and Zach Edey should be expected to set a physical tone for the year ahead and should give the Boilermakers a significant advantage against the Badgers, who may still be playing catch-up anyway following their COVID issues.

Mackey Arena should be a living, breathing thing once again Monday night, and Purdue ought to be able to muster enough energy to win this game, perhaps comfortably.

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