5 Things to Know About Purdue's Next Opponent — Indiana Hoosiers
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A new chapter of college basketball's best rivalry will be added to the book on Tuesday night. Purdue will travel on snow-covered roads to Bloomington for a showdown with Indiana.
Hoosiers head coach Darian DeVries and most of his players will be experiencing this rivalry for the first time, while many on Purdue's roster know the importance of this game quite well.
Before we get to tipoff on Tuesday night (9 p.m. ET, Peacock) in Bloomington, here are a few things to note about Indiana.
Wilkerson can fill it up
Lamar Wilkerson is one of the best scorers in the Big Ten this year, averaging 19.4 points per game for the Hoosiers. What makes him so dangerous, though, is that he's capable of going off on any given night. He scored 44 in a win over Penn State and dropped 32 points in a loss to Nebraska.
When Wilkerson is cooking, he is capable of filling up the bucket and giving Indiana a chance to win games. The senior guard is a high-volume shooter, averaging more than 14 shots per game and hitting at a 45.9% clip. He's also one of IU's top three-point shooters, making nearly 41% of his attempts from long range.
Purdue has allowed a few opposing players to go off for big games. It's imperative that the Boilermakers keep Wilkerson in check and prevent him from having one of his 30-point nights.
Love the three-point line
This is the second straight game Purdue has played in which its opponent loves to shoot from three-point range. The Hoosiers are averaging the fourth-most three-point attempts in the Big Ten, tossing up 29.5 attempts per game. They're hitting at a 35.8% clip, too.
Everyone is willing to shoot from long range, but only a couple of guys are capable of hitting those at a consistent rate. Wilkerson is above 40% and Nick Dorn is hitting at a 45.1% clip for the year. Tucker DeVries shoots the long ball at a 33.5% mark and Conor Enright is at 33.3% for the year.
Nobody else on Indiana's roster is above 30% for the season.
Getting beat on the glass
Indiana's struggles on the glass have been well documented. DeVries' team doesn't have a ton of size and it's getting clobbered in the rebounding department regularly. The Hoosiers did win the battle on the glass against Rutgers Friday, but it was the first time in four games it had outrebounded its opponent.
They were outrebounded 37-19 in a loss to Michigan State and 41-25 by Michigan. Indiana doesn't give itself second-chance opportunities and fails to end possessions by collecting boards.
For the season, Indiana is just plus-2.8 on the glass against its opponents. But the Hoosiers haven't been able to rebound in some of its bigger games this year.
Foul happy
Defensively, Indiana has some work to do. Because the Hoosiers are often out of position, they end up fouling at a frequent rate. This team is averaging 18.5 fouls per game, which ranks 252nd nationally. Opponents are also shooting 21.7 free throws per game, which is 257th.
Purdue isn't a team that gets to the charity stripe often. The Boilermakers are averaging only 16.4 attempts per contest, which ranks 341st nationally. But with the post presence of Oscar Cluff, Trey Kaufman-Renn and Daniel Jacobsen, they could take advantage of this situation.
No marquee wins yet
We're nearing the end of January and Indiana still doesn't have a marquee win on its resumé. The Hoosiers are 13-7 and 4-5 in Big Ten play but have beaten up on the bottom of the league. Their wins of come against Penn State (0-8), Maryland (1-8), Rutgers (2-7) and Washington (3-6). IU also failed to pick up any signature victories in non-conference play.
Although most of its players are new to this rivalry game, Indiana will be locked in trying to get a win over a top-25 opponent to pick up some momentum entering the final stretch of the regular season. Purdue must be ready for the best punch IU has to offer.
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Dustin Schutte is the publisher of Purdue Boilermakers on SI and has spent more than a decade working in sports journalism. His career began in 2013, when he covered Big Ten football. He remained in that role for eight years before working at On SI to cover the Boilermakers. Dustin graduated from Manchester University in Indiana in 2010, where he played for the men's tennis team.
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