WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Back in October when every Big Ten team was still undefeated, optimistic and excited, it was Purdue and Indiana at the top of the preseason conference poll. The Boilermakers were two-time defending champions, and they topped the poll despite moving on from national player of the year Zach Edey.
Indiana was second after spending wildly in the transfer portal thanks to suddenly overflowing NIL dollars. Friday night’s first get-together between to the two in-state rivals was supposed to go a long way in settling the conference race.
Instead, we get something different. An expected blowout.
Purdue is a hefty 11.5-point favorite in the 8 p.m. ET showdown at Mackey Arena. Want to know something crazy about that? It’s the largest point spread Purdue has had in a Big Ten game all season.
How’s that for a complete lack of respect for the Hoosiers?
I get it, because the Hoosiers have already lost five game this season by 16 points or more. There are very few people around the state who think much of this team — and especially their coaches. Purdue is 8-2 in the Big Ten, Indiana 5-5.
The Boilermakers have been favored in eight of their 10 league games so far, but none by more than the 9.5 they were favored against Ohio State last week. They lost that game 73-70, snapping that 26-game home winning streak that included 14 straight Big Ten games.
So you say there’s a chance? I sure hope so, because this is my last IU-Purdue game at Mackey Arena, I’d love to see a good, competitive game at one of my favorite arenas to watch college basketball. which I’ve been doing since 1979.
I’ve been here a lot off and on, and only saw Indiana win once, in 2023. That was the night Jalen Hood-Schifino went off for 35 points to knock off the No. 5 ranked Boilers. My first time here, in 1979, Indiana got beat. Saw them lose here too in 1980 during my senior year at Indiana. My last college game as a student was also a loss to Purdue, at the Midwest Regional in Lexington, Ky., in their only meeting during the NCAA Tournament.
I’ve watched these two teams play a lot of basketball since I started our two respective Sports Illustrated sites in 2019. It’s been an enormous amount of fun, and there’s of melancholy tonight. This is my final college basketball season and there are a lot of lasts. This is my last Mackey night.
With that being the case, I’m really hoping to get a memorable game tonight. Purdue is really good, and Mackey Arena is a massive homecourt advantage. So what will it take for Indiana to pull off another upset Friday night? Three things, really.
Well, despite having no track record whatsoever at shutting down teams that shoot well from the perimeter, the Hoosiers have to do that against Purdue.
The Boilermakers rank No. 17 in the country from beyond the arc, shooting at a 38.4 percent clip. They can’t let guards Fletcher Loyer and Braden Smith go off.
Indiana ranks 181 in defending the three, with opponents clicking at 33.1 percent. But in their last four losses, they’ve given up a whopping 47 threes, nearly 12 per game. They have no chance of winning when they’re giving up double-digit threes.
The 7-foot-4 Zach Edey is off to Memphis in the NBA after a great career at Purdue, and the Boilermakers are a different team up front. Junior forward Trey Kaufmann-Renn is have a great year, averaging 18.1 points per game, but no one else up front is averaging over 5 points per game. Caleb Furst, who’s been playing well lately, is at 4.9.
Indiana center Oumar Ballo and forward Malik Reneau have to win the battle inside. That means getting good looks on the block, defending well and staying out of foul trouble.
This is another area that’s been an issue with the Hoosiers, none more so that Sunday’s loss at home to Maryland, when they let a five-point lead slip away in the final minute. If this is a close game, they have to execute on the offensive end, make stops defensively and make their free throws.
They didn’t do any of that against Maryland, and that 79-78 loss was a heartbreaker. I’m still trying to decide if six days between games was a good thing or a bad thing. The Hoosiers have to put that loss behind them — but they also can’t let that happen again. They need to be finishers.
Mike Woodson has 27 double-digit losses in the past three-plus years, and I’ve seen them all. I really don’t want to see another one tonight on my last trip to Mackey Arena.
Give me something to remember, not mourn.
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