Purdue Basketball: How Do We Get In?

Purdue went on a 3 game winning streak, sitting at 14-10, things were looking up after an up and down season.

We went to our Rival’s House and took care of business, and it really wasn’t even close.

We all thought that we may have turned the corner, after wrecking Iowa at home and beating IU at Assembly Hall, some had Purdue as a lock in the tournament.

Per ESPN, Purdue is 3rd in terms of strength of schedule and 14th overall in BPI, yet, of the top 25 teams with BPI, we are the only one who is even close to being only .500.

We hosted Penn State, where they just out manned us. It never felt close.

Then that Saturday we traveled to Ohio State... lost by 16. It was never close.

Then a travel to Wisconsin, where the start of both halves were frustrating offensively, but we only lost by 4.

Wisconsin is the only “What if” game to me. The other two were never that close.

So, after a 3 game winning streak, we are now on a 3 game slide and trying to claw our way into the big dance.

Purdue has 4 games left on the schedule - 3 of them are at Mackey Arena (thank goodness). We host Michigan, IU and Rutgers at home over the next two weeks. The only travel we have left is going to Iowa, where Purdue has played pretty well at in recent years.

The home games are nothing to scoff at, having three of them at home is big time. While we haven’t been as dominant at home this season - we still play much better at Mackey Arena.

I think it is safe to say that Purdue needs to win 3 of the final 4 to safely be in as a low seed. But with the way we have bee playing, who are we going to beat? The offense seems lost, the defense was there for Wisconsin, but rotations have been very bad, especially against Penn State and Ohio State.

What are our chances? What does the computer say? I am here to help.

Purdue vs Michigan - February 22nd, 2 PM

Round 1: This was the Trevion Williams game. He was the main reason why we sent this to double OT. Tre scored 36 and had 20 rebounds, as no one could guard the young center that night. We ended up losing by 8 in Double overtime, as the main reason for us being there was becoming fatigued. Tre played 44 minutes that evening.

ESPN Says: Purdue 66% chance of winning

What to Expect: Michigan is hot right now, maybe the hottest in the big ten. Once ranked in the top 10, they fell off and have gotten back in their groove. We will need our find our offense again to keep up with them.

Prediction: Purdue 66 Michigan 73

Purdue vs Indiana - February 27th, 7 PM

Round 1: Our best win on the road of the season came at Ass Hall. In an absolutely dominant performance, Purdue put it all together on the road for once, winning by 12. It was a balanced effort with Eric Hunter Jr being our leading scorer with just 12. Every player that logged minutes that game scored more than 5 points.

ESPN Says: Purdue 77% chance of winning

What to Expect: Purdue will be ready to beat little brother again, this time at home. Expect a better post presence from Tre who only had 6 points the first game.

Prediction: Purdue 75 Indiana 70

Purdue at Iowa - March 3rd, 9 PM

Round 1: Purdue broke the 100 point mark in round 1, beating Iowa 104-68. It appeared that Coach Painter did the ole, Garza can score 50 as long as no one else does anything. It worked, Garza played well, but their perimeter players did nothing.

ESPN Says: Purdue 41% chance of winning

What to Expect: Expect a similar game plan, where CMP says Garza you can score, but try and lock up the perimeter players again. We will need great games from our guards, as Garza is actually better than what one would guess on defense. I think this will be close, we play well against Iowa.

Prediction: Purdue 77 Iowa 74

Purdue vs Rutgers - March 7th, 2 PM

Round 1: Playing at the RAC is never easy - it seems like they get away with murder there. Against a sellout crowd, Rutgers beat us by 7 in round 1. Our slow first half was just too much to overcome.

ESPN Says: Purdue 84% chance of winning

What to Expect: The RAC won’t be rocking this time and Rutgers has slowed down a little bit as well. Mackey will be a sellout for senior day and Purdue ill come ready to play against the gritty Scarlet Knights.

Prediction: Purdue 72 Rutgers 61

(Yes I am a homer and an optimist)