It’s a Tuesday night in Big Ten country and as the snow starts to melt in West Lafayette, things will be heating up in Lincoln, Nebraska as a struggling Purdue team travels to Nebraska where the top-ten Cornhuskers look to stay at the top of the Big Ten.
#13 Purdue 19-4 (9-3) at #7 Nebraska 21-2 (10-2)
Nebraska is one of the nation’s most surprising teams of the season. It came out of nowhere, winning its first twenty games of the season including giving Illinois one of its two conference losses.
Its only losses have come to that same Illinois team and Michigan on the road. Nebraska has proved itself more than a flash in the pan under Fred Hoiberg. Instead, Hoiberg has built a program that keeps getting better and better.
Purdue has been a surprising team, too. After spending the off season as national title favorites and the start of the season as the #1 team in the country, the Boilers have struggled mightily over the last month. Its not just losing three straight games that has Purdue fans worried. Purdue, at one point the most dominant offense in the country, has seemingly lost its mojo and jump shot.
But it’s deeper than that. Purdue’s shooting will find its level, but something seems off. The best five Purdue players don’t seem to fit, and it’s unclear what rotation doesn’t come with major sacrifices elsewhere. It has fallend own the ap poll, all the way to 13th, and its seeding seems to be slipping with each week.
It’s now Purdue going into a top-ten building, a place where it’s historically struggled in recent years, needing a win for both its profile and to stay in the race for the Big Ten.
Spider-men Meme
“They have a great offensive and defensive system… they stick to their rules.”
That sounds like something opposing coaches say about Matt Painter and his Purdue Boilermakers, but instead, it’s Painter talking about what Hoiberg has built at Nebraska.
“They prey on your lack of discipline,” Painter said.
That’s a formidable position as Purdue is reeling off one of its sloppiest offensive performance, a home win that was never easy against what should have been an over matched Oregon team. Purdue had 14 turnovers against the Ducks. Its offensive rating keeps dropping as its offense has started to look like a collection of mismatching parts. The two big lineups and teams constantly doubling TKR in the post has taken away a lot of Purdue’s easy buttons for points.
That’s a scary trend going into Nebraska where its aggressive, trapping, double and triple teaming defense has given Purdue trouble in the past.
Big time big men matchup
Pryce Sandfort has been fantastic for Nebraska. He’s scoring 17 points a game on 40% shooting from three and he makes tough shots, open shots, and is relentless on and off the ball. He’s become an elite top scorer and helped Nebraska transition from a tough matchup to one of the best teams in the country.
But Nebraska’s cogs and system still runs through its unique, multi-faceted big man, Rienk Mast.
At 14.7 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists, Mast’s numbers don’t do his affect on the game justice.
There’s just not many guys as big as Mast that’s as good with the ball in his hands. Because of his size, the whole court is available to him, and the shooters around him become more dangerous when he has the ball.
“You just don’t normally see that from 6-9 guys,” Painter said about Mast’s game facing up and his collection of skills. “He gives them everything on both ends of the court.”
Oscar Cluff has not been having the same impact on the floor the last couple weeks, but Nebraska and Mast is the exact kind of matchup where Cluff should thrive and remind Purdue fans of his value. Cluff is one of the best bigs switching on the perimeter in the country, and that ability to hedge and play out there was part of why Painter and company valued bringing him over. Mast is too big to go small against but usually leans on having an athletic or skill gap over other bigs. Cluff should be able to match both his physicality and be able to step out and stay with Mast on the perimeter.
It should be one of the better big men matchups in the conference this season, and a good back and forth battle.
Big Ten up for grabs
Purdue still has games against Michigan, Michigan State, and Nebraska. It can have a big hand in its own destiny, but the truth is likely that Purdue can’t afford another loss in the Big Ten.
With Michigan, Illinois, and Nebraska all above Purdue in the standings and Michigan State at three losses as well, there’s no more margin of error for Purdue who lost three straight conference games.
“I don’t see a couple of those teams getting to four losses,” Painter said ahead of heading to Nebraska.
That means if Purdue’s senior class wants to land its third conference title, it’ll need to most likely win out from here. That starts with winning on the road against a top-ten Nebraska team.