THE GAME
Up to No. 6 in this week's AP poll, Purdue hosts Wright State on Tuesday night in its final home game prior to meeting No. 18 North Carolina, then either No. 5 Villanova or No. 17 Tennessee, at the Hall of Fame Tip-Off at the Mohegan Sun this weekend.
THE PARTICULARS
Date: Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021
Time: 7 p.m. ET
TV: BTN
(Note: Former Purdue women's basketball star Stephanie White will do color.)
Radio: Purdue Radio Network (96.5 WAZY locally)
ABOUT PURDUE (2-0)
• While no one should be beating their chests over doing this against Bellarmine and Indiana State, Purdue's scored 188 points on 52-percent shooting, 43-percent three-point shooting and 75-percent foul shooting.
They're second nationally in offensive efficiency per KenPom. Too small a sample size for that to matter all that much, though.
• Of the nine players in Purdue's rotation, seven have made at least 50 percent of their shots through two games.
PURDUE LINEUPS
STARTERS
C — 15 Zach Edey (7-4, 295, So.)
Edey's missed just two of his 14 field goal attempts through two games and just loomed especially large defensively against Indiana State. His per-40 numbers right now: 39 points and 19.5 rebounds.
F — 3 Caleb Furst (6-10, 230, Fr.)
Furst is being challenged defensively by teams looking to attack him on the perimeter. That was always going to be the case, especially in non-conference play. The more experience he gets, he'll improve quickly most likely. The freshman has been rock solid for Purdue, averaging eight-and-a-half rebounds and providing a spark with his effort.
G —23 Jaden Ivey (6-4, 195, So.)
The Preseason All-Big Ten guard was exceptional against Indiana State after an up-and-down opener against Bellarmine. If he plays like he did against ISU more often than not this season, he'll be one of the best players in college basketball.
G — 55 Sasha Stefanovic (6-5, 205, Sr.)
Stefanovic is off to a 7-of-11 start from three-point range and remains and a really valuable post-feed guy.
G —11 Isaiah Thompson (6-1, 160, Jr.)
Thompson's ability to make shots seems like an ideal fit next to Ivey and whichever center's in the game. He's 6-of-11 from three and hasn't turned the ball over yet.
ROTATION
C — 50 Trevion Williams (6-10, 255, Sr.)
Williams is one of the better big men in college basketball, and coming off the bench for his team. That's an eye-opener of a story.
G — 5 Brandon Newman (6-5, 200, So.)
Newman's had his moments through two games for sure, but took some tough threes against Indiana State that watered down his percentages some. He's just 5-of-18 from the floor.
G — 25 Ethan Morton (6-6, 215, So.)
Morton's playing good solid basketball on offense, giving Purdue a bit of a spark with his defensive effort and helping the Boilermakers cover a bunch of positional bases.
G — 2 Eric Hunter (6-4, 175, Sr.)
Coming off the bench for the first time since his freshman year, Hunter's not really gotten in much of an offensive rhythm through just these two games.
NOTE: Forward Mason Gillis is suspended for the first four regular season games. He'll return Sunday vs. either Villanova or Tennessee.
Freshmen Trey Kaufman-Renn and Brian Waddell will redshirt this season. Waddell will miss most of the season after tearing his ACL on Friday.
ABOUT WRIGHT STATE (1-1)
• Wright State is led by Preseason All-Horizon League forward Grant Basile, who's averaging 25 points — on 62-percent shooting — and nine rebounds through two games. He'll be the Raiders' center.
Basile, who averaged 15 a game last season on that same 62-percent shooting (and 20-of-42 from three), just scored 37 in a 96-88 loss to Marshall.
• Guard Tanner Holden scored 25 against Marshall. He averaged 15.8 points last season.
• The Raiders were a 37-percent three-point shooting team last season but lost a few of their biggest threats.
• Like many mid-majors will, Wright State will play four guards, with big guard Tim Finke as its 4. That's been a bit of a defensive vulnerability for Purdue through two games, but one the Boilermakers need to work through by getting experience.
Finke, whose older brother Michael played at Illinois, is 6-of-13 from three-point range after shooting 41-plus percent last season.
Purdue did dabble with the Champaign native in recruiting years back before he wound up at Grand Canyon.
• It's been just two games — a win over Lake Erie and loss to Marshall — but opponents' effective field goal percentage against Wright State stands at 58.7 percent — not good — and those two teams have needed just 11.9 seconds to shoot. That's the shortest defensive time of possession in the country, per KenPom, but also a function of Marshall's style of play.
Opponents are shooting almost 68 percent from two-point range.
• The Raiders were picked second in the Horizon League in the preseason, behind Cleveland State.
• Wright State coach Scott Nagy has won at least 18 games in each of his five seasons there, has won four Horizon League titles — three regular season crowns and one postseason-tournament — and holds a winning percentage of just under 70 percent.
• Former Purdue player Travis Trice is in his first year as a Raider assistant coach, as Is former IPFW head coach Dan Beré.
WRIGHT STATE LINEUPS
STARTERS
G - 1 Trey Calvin (6-0, 165, Jr.)
G- 2 Tanner Holden (6-6, 185, Jr.)
G - 24 Tim Finke (6-6, 215, Jr.)
G- F Riley Voss (6-6, 230, Sr.)
F - 00 Grant Basile (6-9, 225, Jr.)
KEY RESERVES
F - 22 Andrew Welage (6-6, 180, So.)
G - 3 Alex Huibregtse (6-3, 195, So.)
G - 4 Keaton Norris (6-0, 165, Fr.)
F - 20 Andy Neff (6-7, 215, Sr..)
IN-GAME AND POST-GAME COVERAGE
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.
PREDICTION: PURDUE 93, WRIGHT STATE 70
Not much reason to be concerned about Purdue offensively, and the Boilermakers do seem to be trending well enough defensively, but has to keep getting better. Wright State might be able to cause Purdue enough problems to keep this interesting for a while, but the Boilermakers just have too many weapons. The heavy stuff starts coming down this weekend in Connecticut.
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