The 411: #4 Purdue at Indiana

No. 4 Purdue puts its extended winning streak against rival Indiana on the line during the first of the two teams' two meetings this regular season. The Boilermakers are looking for their fourth straight win after a 1-2 Big Ten start, while IU looks to remain unbeaten at home.

Date: Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022

Place: Simon Skodt Assembly Hall (Bloomington, Ind.)

Time: 7 p.m. ET

TV: FS1

Radio: Purdue Radio Network (96.5 WAZY locally)

Schedule | Roster | Stats

• Purdue has won its last nine meetings with Indiana, dating back to the 2017 season, including the last five meetings in Bloomington.

• The Boilermakers, per KenPom, remain top-10 nationally in several major categories: Offensive efficiency (1), effective field goal percentage (3), offensive rebounding percentage (8), three-point percentage (5), two-point percentage (8) and block percentage (5).

• Purdue's coming off a game-of-the-year sort of double-overtime win Monday afternoon at No. 17 Illinois. This will be Purdue's third road game out of four, and would have been its fourth out of five had the Michigan game not been postponed.

The Boilermakers are 3-0 since losing to Wisconsin in Mackey Arena, and have trended well in a variety of areas since that setback, particularly defensively.

• Purdue's shooting 40.4 percent from three-point range during its past two road wins, at Penn State and Illinois.

STARTERS

C — 15 Zach Edey (7-4, 295, So.)

15.6 PPG • 70.7% FG • 7.5 REB • 1.4 BLK

Coming off dominating a head-to-head matchup with Kofi Cockburn, Edey is surging right now, playing with a distinct physical edge that amplifies his already considerable physical advantages. He will be challenged defensively by Trayce Jackson-Davis' quickness, but Jackson-Davis will have his hands full with Edey's dimensions.

F — 0 Mason Gillis (6-6, 230, So.)

7.2 PPG • 3.5 REB • 56.9% FG • 53.3% 3-PT • 100% FT

Gillis' matchup with Race Thompson will be one of the under-rated battles in this one, as both are grinders who'll work hard on the glass. Gillis is a very good three-point shooter and outlet for Purdue's passes out of the post. Thompson can score on the block. They both have to keep the other off the offensive boards.

G —23 Jaden Ivey (6-4, 195, So.)

16.4 PPG • 48.9% FG • 43% 3-PT • 5.2 REB • 3.1 AST • 1.3 STL

The pre-eminent scorer in this game, Ivey will really put pressure on Indiana's defense off the dribble. He pinned 10 fouls on Illinois on Monday, both by attacking off the dribble and pushing the ball in the open floor.

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

11.2 PPG • 40% 3-PT • 3.9 AST

Stefanovic went off at Illinois, knocking down five threes and making a series of big ones. He's historically shot well at Indiana and is one of those few Purdue player who's thrived in this environment before.

G —11 Isaiah Thompson (6-1, 160, Jr.)

5.6 PPG • 42.3% 3-PT

Thompson's shooting rut in Big Ten play continues, as he's now just 2-of-18 from three in conference games. That'll get straightened out eventually. In the meantime, he and Eric Hunter will be needed to do a good job defensively on point guard Xavier Johnson and take care of the basketball in a hostile setting.

ROTATION

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

13.4 PPG • 57.9% FG • 8.5 REB • 3.1 AST

Williams was just 6-of-18 from the floor at Illinois, for no apparent reason. He got a number of his bread-and-butter shots around the rim in both halves that just didn't go down. Had just a few of them, that game never sees overtime. That was strange.

G — 25 Ethan Morton (6-6, 215, So.)

2.6 PPG • 2.3 AST • 42.9% 3-PT

Morton didn't play as much at Illinois due to matchups, as the Illini had a bunch of quicker guards on the floor often. Indiana could be different, as Miller Kopp could be a favorable matchup for Morton, whose offensive savvy really helps Purdue.

G — 2 Eric Hunter (6-4, 175, Sr.)

3.7 PPG • 1.7 AST

Hunter has played perhaps his two best games of the season the past two outings. That's been a welcomed sight for Purdue at both ends of the floor.

G — 5 Brandon Newman (6-5, 200, So.)

6.3 PPG • 34.7% 3-PT • 85% FT

Newman gave Purdue solid minutes against Illinois in a limited role and did make an important three in the first half to cap a sideways possession with points. These Purdue-Indiana games often have someone off the radar make a splash and Newman may have a chance to be that guy.

F — 3 Caleb Furst (6-10, 230, Fr.)

5.7 PPG • 4.8 RPG • 56.4% FG • 37.5% 3-PT

Furst is still rounding back into form post-COVID, but was pinned to the bench against Illinois because of the Illini's four-guard lineups. He, too, could get more of a chance at IU, which rolls with more traditionally sized frontcourts.

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

• Indiana's taken a big step defensively, leading the Big Ten in conference play in scoring defense, allowing just 63.6 points per game. That includes the Hoosiers holding Ohio State to just 51 in a one-sided IU win.

It should be noted that Indiana has already played four Big Ten games against the bottom four in the league in scoring, two meetings with Nebraska included.

The Hoosiers are third nationally in effective field goal percentage defense, 42.2 percent, per KenPom.

• Consistent with the program's recent history, IU is 11-0 at home, 1-4 on the road.

• Indiana is No. 73 nationally per KenPom in offensive efficiency and averaging 68.1 points in Big Ten play, 10th in the league.

IU can be turnover prone, with a turnover percentage of 20.3 percent.

STARTERS

C - 23 Trayce Jackson-Davis (6-9, 245, Jr.)

19.5 PPG • 9.1 RPG • 60.7% FG • 2.9 BLK

Indiana's centerpiece, Jackson-Davis will again be the focal point of both Indiana's offense and Purdue's defensive game plan, where the Boilermakers will hope to both him with size, crowd him, keep him off the foul line and offensive glass and make him shoot jumpers.

Jackson-Davis took a nasty spill at Nebraska and sat out the end of that game. He's expected to play, but might do so through some discomfort.

F - 25 Race Thompson (6-8, 235, Sr.)

10.9 PPG • 7.5 RPG • 58.3% FG

It's easy to overlook Thompson being that he's kind of a sidekick to Jackson-Davis, but he's a big-time rebounder and will get his share of points in the post and off the offensive glass, where Purdue must really focus on him. He gets to double-figures pretty much every game, one way or another.

F - 12 Miller Kopp (6-7, 220, Sr.)

7.1 PPG • 37% 3-PT

The former Northwestern player has given Indiana a floor-spacer in the frontcourt, an important element around Jackson-Davis.

G - 45 Parker Stewart (6-5, 202, Sr.)

7.6 PPG • 47.6% 3-PT

Now on his third school, Stewart sat out last season after transferring from Tennessee-Martin and has given Indiana the sort of knock-down shooter it's so often lacked before. He's shooting almost 47 percent from three. Purdue's probably going to want to make him put the ball on the floor.

G - 0 Xavier Johnson (6-3, 200, Sr.)

9.5 PPG • 3.5 RPG • 4.2 AST • 33.3% 3-PT

A transfer from Pitt, Johnson's given Indiana some quickness and scoring punch at the point, but he can be turnover-prone at times. He's totaled nine the past two games and shoots just 41 percent overall for the season.

KEY RESERVES

G - 32 Trey Galloway (6-4, 200, So.)

6.0 PPG • 58.6% FG

Galloway missed a bunch of games earlier this season due to a wrist injury, but has been the reserve IU has relied most on since his return. Glue guy-type.

F - 22 Jordan Geronimo (6-6, 225, So.)

4.5 PPG • 4.2 RPG • 53.8% FG • 35.7% 3-PT

The sophomore forward has been a spark lately for Indiana, as he totaled 10 points and eight rebounds in a season-high 21 minutes at Nebraska and made a three-pointer at Iowa. Purdue's going to have to make sure they're aware of him on the offensive glass and respect his ability to make threes.

G - 1 Rob Phinisee (6-1, 187, Sr.)

4.6 PPG • 2.2 AST

The veteran point guard's been hot and cold off the bench for the Hoosiers, backing up the guard Indiana recruited over him, Xavier Johnson.

G - 53 Tamar Bates (6-5, 193, Fr.)

4.6 PPG

It was hoped the touted freshman would be a high-impact player the Hoosiers right away, but his minutes have dipped since Big Ten play resumed this month. He's talented, though.

C - 2 Michael Durr (7-0, 250, Sr.)

1.9 PPG • 1.2 RPG

The South Florida transfer could see more minutes than usual as IU hopes to match up with Purdue's size.

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.

Indiana is very good defensively, but they've also not seen anything like Purdue this season.

Purdue's going to have to continue its upward defensive trajectory against Jackson-Davis — and the deck will be stacked against him if he's not 100-percent — and play the right way, but the Boilermakers have trended in such a way lately that it would be a surprise if they didn't.

Look, Assembly Hall has a way sometimes of consuming visitors, but Purdue's been here before and thrived, and it is the head-and-shoulders better team right now.

It won't be easy, but Purdue's a clear pick here.

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