Meet the Opponent: The Streaky, Struggling Purdue Boilermakers
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — There's no question that the Indiana-Purdue basketball rivalry is fierce and intense, but there's probably never been a game where Indiana fans didn't care about the outcome until three weeks ago.
When Indiana hosted Purdue on Feb. 8, the sleep-walking Hoosiers lost to Purdue 74-62 and didn't show much. But most of the sold-out crowd really didn't care, because the game itself was a sideshow that day to the return of Bob Knight to Assembly Hall for the first time in 20 years.
So Indiana fans might not have paid much attention to the Boilermakers that day, with Bob Knight fever raging. But the two teams get together again Thursday night in West Lafayette, and it's a huge game for both teams, for a lot of reasons.
It's been weird what's gone on with the Boilermakers the past two weeks. Since beating Indiana, they've lost four games in a row and are just a 14-14 team right now. But they are clearly the best 14-14 team in the country, as weird as that sounds.
Here are three things you need to know about the Boilermakers heading into the 7 p.m. ET showdown:
1. At Mackey Arena, they look awesome most nights
Purdue oftentimes looks like the best team in the country in loud and raucous Mackey Arena. They beat then No. 5-ranked Virginia by 29 points in early December when the defending national champions were 7-0. They also beat Michigan State by 29 when they were ranked in the top-10 and beat a ranked Iowa team by 36 points a few weeks ago.
No one else IN AMERCA has three wins over ranked teams of 25 points or more this year. That's how good they can be there. They shoot so much better at home — 40 percent in Mackey from three-point range compared to 27 percent on the road — and when they get hot, they can go on crazy rolls. For the longest time, it looked like they were unbeatable at home, But then ...
2. But then there have been Mackey duds as well
What's been surprising in the past month or so is that the Boilermakers have shown a fw chinks in the armor at home. They lost to Illinois 79-62 on Jan. 21 and a normally stout Purdue defense allowed 50 points — in the second half alone! They also got beat 37-19 on the boards and Purdue coach Matt Painter was livid with his team's lack of effort.
Then there are just-as-ugly home losses to Penn State — which had NEVER won at Mackey before their 88-76 win on Feb. 11 and then to Michigan on Sunday, the capper on this recent four-game losing streak that was an ugly 71-63 loss to the Wolverines.
Those losses have proven that it is finally possible to beat Purdue on its home court, even though the Hoosiers have lost four straight at Mackey, not winning there since 2013.
3. Recent losing streak a head-shaker
After Purdue beat Indiana on Feb 8 to go to 14-10 overall and 7-6 in the league, the Boilermakers were clearly in the NCAA tournament field. They had an excellent resume, and seemed to be trending in the right direction.
But then this losing streak came, four losses in a row. That just doesn't happen with Matt Painter-coached teams. who haven't lost four games in a row since 2014. Even that streak is the only one in the past 14 years under Painter.
There are plenty of reasons for the losing streak, but no real explanations. Purdue is usually a good rebounding team, but lately they've been getting it handed to them on the boards. They are usually lock-down defenders, but this group doesn't seem to have a pack of alpha-dog defenders like previous Purdue teams. Mostly, though, they've just been very inconsistent shooting the ball.
In other words, we have absolutely no idea which Purdue team we'll see on Thursday night.
Related Purdue-Indiana basketball content
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- JACKSON-DAVIS PLAYER OF WEEK: For the fifth time this year, Indiana forward Trayce Jackson-Davis was named the Big Ten's Freshman of the Week. CLICK HERE
- ADD ANOTHER YEAR!: With San Diego State finally losing, there are no unbeaten teams left. That means the 1976 Hoosiers are still the last remaining unbeaten team, 44 years later. CLICK HERE
- MILLER ON PURDUE LOSS: Here's what Archie Miller said after Purdue beat Indiana back on Feb. 8. CLICK HERE
