Previewing Michigan Basketball's Top 15 Matchup Against Purdue

On Tuesday night the 2nd ranked Michigan Wolverines will travel to Purdue to take on the 13th ranked Boilermakers. Michigan is coming off a blowout win over UCLA at home, while Purdue is coming off a blowout win as well, where they won 78-57 at Iowa.

With Michigan at 24-1 overall (14-1 in conference games), and Purdue at 21-4 overall (11-3 in conference games), this is obviously a huge game in the Big Ten hierarchy that will take place this week. Purdue is one of three teams tied for second in the Big Ten, along with Illinois and Nebraska. Who ultimately wins this game will go a long ways in determining who ends up winning the Big Ten regular season title. It's a huge game between two of the top 15 teams in the country, so let's dive more into this matchup below.

Purdue Boilermakers

On offense, Purdue is 4th in the Big Ten in average points per game, 2nd in the Big Ten in shooting percentage from the field, 2nd in 3-point shooting percentage, 9th in offensive rebounds, 1st in assists, and 3rd in turnovers. This is an elite offense in the Big Ten, and college basketball as a whole as well. As a team they shoot it very well, share the basketball very well, and also don't turn it over very much. It's a veteran group that's played a lot together and Michigan will need their best defensive performance of the season thus far to go into Mackey arena and come out with a win.

On defense, Purdue is 5th in the Big Ten in opponent scoring average per game, 7th in opponent shooting percentage per game, 10th in opponent 3-point shooting percentage per game, 7th in defensive rebounding, 11th in steals, and 11th in blocks. Their defense isn't near as good statistically as their offense but it's still a quality group that typically does a good job of forcing tough shots. If there's one area of the floor Michigan might be able to exploit, it is probably going to come by scoring at the rim and from beyond the arc. With Purdue being 11th in blocks in the Big Ten, there shouldn't be a huge issue with Michigan being able to get to and score at the rim. Purdue is also 10th in opponent 3-point shooting percentage so if Michigan can score at the rim, they should also have shooters outside that will be open for good 3-point looks.

Individually, Purdue is led in scoring by one of the best point guards in the country in Braden Smith at 14.7 points per game, followed by Fletcher Loyer at 13.5, Trey Kaufman-Renn at 12.4, and Oscar Cluff at 10.5. They are a very good offense but it is top-heavy between Smith, Loyer, and Kaufman-Renn. If Michigan's defense can keep those three in check, they should be able to come out with a win on Tuesday night.

Michigan Wolverines

On offense, Michigan is 1st in the Big Ten in average scoring per game, 1st in shooting percentage, 6th in 3-point shooting percentage, 7th in offensive rebounding, 2nd in assists, and 16th in turnovers per game. Michigan is an elite offense nationally with the only real issue being their turnovers. The turnovers have been a problem for Michigan in most of their close games this year, so keeping them to a minimum in this game will be extremely important.

On defense, Michigan is 4th in the Big Ten in opponent scoring average per game, 1st in opponent shooting percentage per game, 1st in opponent 3-point shooting percentage per game, 1st in defensive rebounding, 7th in steals, and 1st in blocks. Michigan has been an elite defensive team this year as well, and it's extremely impressive they're able to cover both the rim (through blocks) and the 3-point line (opponent 3-point shooting percentage) as the top team in the Big Ten. It's very difficult to cover both areas at an elite level but so far this year Michigan's been able to do just that. They'll need their defense to be able to slow down Purdue's elite offense if they want to go on the road and win this game.

Individually, they're led in scoring by Yaxel Lendeborg at 14.4, Morez Johnson Jr. at 13.6, Aday Mara at 11.3, with Trey McKenney at 9.9, Elliot Cadeau at 9.8, and Nimari Burnett at 9.2. Michigan has one of the deeper rosters in the Big Ten, and really the entire country. It really shows up on the offensive end where a number of different Wolverines can lead Michigan in scoring on any given night. Not even listed there was L.J. Cason who's been great for Michigan in these last two games, scoring 18 points against Northwestern, and 13 against UCLA. Michigan will need all their pieces to step up and play well in this tough game on the road.

Overall, this should be a great game of college basketball on Tuesday night between two of the top teams in the Big Ten and really in the entire country. Purdue gets the benefit of being the home team in this game but Michigan is playing so well on both ends of the court right now. I think Michigan actually goes on the road here and comes out with another huge win as they'll continue to separate themselves from the rest of the Big Ten down the home stretch of the regular season.