GameDay Preview: Things to Know About the Rutgers Scarlet Knights
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — If Purdue wants to earn an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament, a home win on Senior Day over Rutgers is a must before they turn their sights on the Big Ten Tournament next week.
"I think we're outside looking in, there's no doubt about that," Purdue coach Matt Painter. "With that Maryland win, I think (Rutgers is) in the tournament and now this gives us another (possible) win against a tournament team and that's what you want to keep doing, is keep getting quality wins."
Purdue lost the first meeting at Rutgers, falling 70-63 on Jan. 29. The Scarlet Knights are more recently coming off a big win at home over No. 9 Maryland, which snapped a three-game losing skid.
Here are the particulars on Saturday's game:
- Who: Rutgers Scarlet Knights (19-11, 10-9 in the Big Ten) vs. Purdue Boilermakers (16-14, 9-10 in the Big Ten)
- When: 2 p.m., ET, Saturday, March 7
- Where: Mackey Arena, West Lafayette, Ind.
- Latest Line: Purdue is a 6-point favorite as of Saturday morning, according to VegasInsiders.com.
- Poll rankings: Neither team is ranked in either the Associated Press or Coaches poll.
- Kenpom.com rankings: Rutgers is No. 27, and Purdue is No. 22
- TV: BTN
- Announcers: Brandon Gaudin, Shon Morris
- Radio: Purdue Radio Network
- Announcers: Rob Blackman, Larry Clisby, Ralph Taylor
Here are two key things to know about the Rutgers Scarlet Knights:
1. It's all in the transition
In the first meeting, Rutgers won the fast-break point battle 24-9 and forced 11 first-half Purdue turnovers to grab a double-digit halftime lead.
"We have to hit them first and limit them in transition because that's where they're extremely dangerous," Purdue center Matt Haarms said Friday.
Painter reiterated that it will be important to take care of the ball and secure as many possessions as possible. "You've got to be making hustle plays and getting to the 50/50 balls and rebounding against a tough, hard-nosed team like Rutgers, but you can't beat yourself and I think that's going to be important in this game."
2. Gets off to a good start
In the first meeting between these two teams, Rutgers went up by as many as 16 points in the first half and claimed a 12-point halftime lead, which ultimately was too much for Purdue to overcome.
We have seen the good and the bad from Purdue at home when it comes down to which team gets off to a better start. In a home games versus Iowa and Michigan State, which they won handedly, they got off to a scorching start, but in home losses to Penn State, Illinois and Michigan, they hardly led in the game, if at all, and struggled to claw back and play from behind.
"Honestly, we just have to play harder. You know, the first game, they got us down -- they got us down pretty big in the first half and that was just a fact of them playing hard," said Haarms.
"We put ourselves in a hole," added Painter about the first meeting versus Rutgers.
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- FIRST TRIP TO MACKEY: A Purdue senior who grew up in a basketball house in southern Indiana had never been to a game at Mackey Arena. So we fixed that. Here's her story. CLICK HERE
- CALEB FURST COMMITS: One of the top players in Indiana in 2021 has committed to Matt Painter and the Boilermakers. CLICK HERE
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