In the Crossroads of America, it doesn’t get any bigger than this: Indiana vs Purdue basketball. It’s the B1G hoops blood feud and El Clasico all rolled into one. It’s a series rich in history and here’s a link to more on that, including the series’ five biggest moments.
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
No. 16 Purdue (23-6, 12-4 B1G) vs. Indiana (16-13, 6-10 B1G)
Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2017 / 7 p.m. ET / ESPN2 (Dan Shulman, Dan Dakich, Molly McGrath)
West Lafayettte, Indiana / Mackey Arena (14,804)
SPREAD: Purdue -10 1/2
We don’t have to endure Dick Vitale again! Huzzah!
In the first meeting, Dickie V. incessantly told the audience how many years he’s been doing this, and how much he loves it. It really came off as egregious overcompensating. His Tom Crean infomercialing was over the top too.
Television Preview Segment: Just visited WGN TV studios to join CLTV “Sports Feed” with Jarrett Payton (son of Walter himself) to talk college hoops and we spent a good deal of time talking B1G and Purdue basketball. View the video at this link.
#14 Purdue Basketball (23-6, 12-4) Preview: The Boilermakers are coming off their worst loss of the season, 82-70 at Michigan. It’s worth noting that four other teams, in addition to the Boilers suffered their worst lost at the hands of the Wolverines (Michigan State by 29, Indiana by 30, Marquette by 18 and SMU by 22).
Purdue, despite the substantial setback, still boasts the best NCAA Tournament resume of any team in the B1G. It’s also very likely that this Purdue basketball team will have to carry the B1G flag in the NCAA Tournament. Hey, in a down year like this, who else is there?
You might seriously see only two league teams ranked in the AP top 25 come Selection Sunday.
Caleb Swanigan is more than a strong front-runner for the B1G player of the year; he’s a leading candidate for national player of the year as well. Here’s an update on his NBA Draft stock; and an assessment of how Isaac Haas’ NBA stock is currently performing in the market.
Indiana Basketball (16-13, 6-10) preview: The Hoosiers are coming off a thrilling home over Northwestern which was encapsulated by this play below:
#Northwestern's season in a GIF pic.twitter.com/apIWjKtkFj
— Jeff Eisenband (@JeffEisenband) February 26, 2017
IU closed out the Wildcats in the first half with a 22-0 run, and then overcame a five point deficit in the final two minutes. This game, coupled with how NU has been playing since they started the season 18-4 (they’re 2-5 since, 1-4 versus the teams above them in the league standings) makes the case that Northwesterning might soon become the new Clemsoning.
Tom Crean has had to deal with a ton of injuries this season, and issues at the point guard position.
While Crean may not have landed some of the bluest chips in the state in recent years, he still has the only B1G team featuring not just one, but two likely first round draft picks.
Or at least he did until OG Anunoby was out for the season. Here’s a NBA Draft mock sourcing on him, along with our Thomas Bryant NBA Draft mocksourcing.
Even when at full strength, this team was underachieving, and because of that Crean can feel his seat scorching right now. Should IU decide to exercise his $4 million buyout, here is a link to some of the top coaching candidates.
Prediction: Purdue 78, Indiana 65
This Purdue basketball team seems like a group on a mission- B1G regular season title, sweet 16, quite possibly more. You know they will be extremely fired up for what is always their Super Bowl.
Having won the first meeting in Bloomington 69-64 on February 9th, I’m expecting them to cruise in the Mackey Arena leg.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times and NBC Chicago.com, contributes to Chicago Tribune.com, Bold, WGN CLTV and KOZN.
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