The final trip in Purdue’s current road swing takes place Saturday in Iowa City, as the Boilermakers invade Carver-Hawkeye Arena for a 2 p.m. clash against the Iowa Hawkeyes. Purdue basketball (16-2, 5-2) will enter looking for the regular season sweep, after knocking off in-state rival Indiana, 87-66, while Iowa (11-6, 3-3) enters on a three game win streak after defeating Minnesota, 86-77, its last time out.
Iowa is 8-1 at home, while the second ranked Boilermakers have produced mixed results in the Big Ten on the road, losing at Nebraska and Northwestern, while picking up the win at Indiana.
Purdue got the win in West Lafayette in December, as the Boilermakers held Iowa to a dismal 31 percent shooting from the field in the first half en route to an 87-68 win. Zach Edey finished with 25 points and 12 rebounds in the win.
Boiler Wire takes a look at three keys for a Purdue road win.
Purdue Needs to Limit Turnovers
While it’s no secret that you can’t score if you don’t possess the basketball, for Purdue it definitely is the case. In Purdue’s two losses this season, the Boilermakers have turned it over 3o times (17 at Northwestern and 13 at Nebraska). That cannot happen at Iowa or they will find themselves in a position Matt Painter does not want to be in at what promises to be a very loud, hostile environment. If Purdue is going to escape Iowa City with a win, it has to be solid with the basketball.
Dominate the Paint
Look, right, wrong, indifferent, the playbook is out on how to make life tough for Purdue and that is be physical with Zach Edey on offense and then get him in foul trouble on the defensive end of the floor. In the first game of the series against Iowa, Edey played well, finishing with 25 points and 12 rebounds and Purdue outscored the Hawkeyes 50-34 in the paint. The Boilermakers also outrebounded Iowa, 41-35. Purdue will have to find ways to score in the paint again and dominate the glass if they are going to knock off Iowa again.
The Boilermakers played solid defense in their road win at Indiana and that needs to carry over against Iowa. In the first matchup, Purdue forced Iowa into eight turnovers for 15 points, but more importantly, the Boilermakers were able to force Iowa into a cold shooting night. At Mackey Arena, the Hawkeyes were 25-of-65 from the field and 6-of-18 from behind the arc. Iowa coach Fran McCaffery noted after the first meeting that Purdue did a great job of playing defense and pressuring the Hawkeyes into playing east and west. After opening the Big Ten 0-3, Iowa has found its footing, especially on the offensive end, as the Hawkeyes are averaging a league high 87.1 points. Also, it bares mentioning that once Purdue gets a lead, they have to keep the pressure on. Against Indiana, Purdue got out to a quick halftime lead and saw the Hoosiers roar back, and the same thing happened when the Boilermakers played Iowa. In that game, Purdue lead 45-24 at the half, but were outscored 44-42 in the second half.
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