Incarnate Word at Purdue Preview

The Boilers get a final tune-up game before heading out to Connecticut for the last two games of the Hall of Fame Tip-Off. This one could be a challenge to, as the Boilers will face a Division I newcomer that has already made some waves.

The bitter rivals of Manifested Paragraph, Incarnate Word comes into this season in their second year of the four year transition period to Division I. They will not be eligible for the NCAA Tournament until the 2017-18 season, but so far they have shown they can be competitive. Their first year was an impressive 21-6 season that included a 9-5 mark in Southland play. One of the six losses was to Stephen F. Austin, who went 32-3 and knocked off VCU in a 12/5 game before losing to UCLA.

Last season they started appearing on non-Southland schedules and notched some good wins. They won at Princeton by 11. They also stunned Nebraska 74-73 in Lincoln for their only win over a major conference foe to date. Sure, Nebraska ended up not being very good, but at the time we did not know that.

There are some good pieces on this team. Derail Green was a redshirt on the Wichita State team that went to the Final Four and had regular minutes the following season when they were undefeated before losing in the NCAA Tournament. He had 14 points in the season opening win over Texas Lutheran.

So far Incarnate Word has played one game, an 86-65 win over Texas Lutheran last week. They play something called Schreiner tonight at home before coming to West Lafayette. They also have later games against Oklahoma, California, and St. John's.

In the opener they were led by Kyle Hittle, who hit the game-winner in Lincoln to beat Nebraska last season. He had 18 points and last season he averaged 15.3 per game. He is a decent small forward at 6'5" and he rebounds well. He also has shot above 40% from three in his career.

Like with many opponents, Incarnate Word is going to struggle mightily with Purdue's size. Their tallest player is 6'11" Jerred Kite, and, well, he is a bit of a stiff at 215 pounds. He had 2 points in six minutes in the opener against a Division II school. That leaves Green at 6'7" as the tallest player to go against Isaac Haas and Caleb Swanigan. Behind them the Cardinals have no one else above 6'5".

Because of that, Purdue should have very little trouble. Incarnate Word shot 41% from the field in the opener, but form long range, which might be their lone saving grace, they were 22.7%. Jontrell Walker, Simi Socks, and Tyler Singleton were all in double figures with a combined 31 points, but this is a team of mites trying to go against Purdue's huge front line. Watch out for Mitchell Badillo, who had 8 points and 6 assists with 5 rebounds as a 5'9" point guard in the opener.

I predict this is the third straight game with Toyra/Eifert time as the walk-on get extensive playing time after the last media timeout. Can Purdue top 100 again? They should get close. Purdue 95, Incarnate Word 60