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#1 Purdue vs. Florida A&M Preview

Your #1 Boilers look to extend their record to 13-0 for the first time since 2009/2010

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Syndication: Journal-Courier Alex Martin/Journal and Courier / USA TODAY NETWORK

Florida A&M (2-8) vs #1 Purdue Boilermakers (12-0)

Thursday, December 29th - 5PM EST

West Lafayette, Indiana - Mackey Arena (home of your top ranked Purdue Boilermakers)

TV: BTN - Don’t forget that you can also catch Purdue basketball on SlingTV . Check out the sidebar for more information.

Florida A&M Starters

Position # Player Class Height Weight Hometown Previous Team
Position # Player Class Height Weight Hometown Previous Team
Center 10 Chase Barrs Sr 6'9" 210 Tampa, Florida Western Michigan
Forward 5 Jaylen Bates Jr 6'7" 215 Atlanta, Georgia Gaston College
Wing 2 Jordan Chatman So 6'5" 208 Birmingham, Alabama Shelton State CC
Guard 1 Byron Smith Jr 6'2" 185 Palatka, Florida Tallahassee CC
Point Guard 22 Jordon Tilmon Jr 6'2" 180 Pine Bluff, Arkansas Connors State College

Florida A&M Bench

Position # Player Class Height Weight Hometown Previous Team
Position # Player Class Height Weight Hometown Previous Team
Guard/Wing 4 Hantz Louis-Jeune Jr 6'6" 180 Lake Worth, Florida NW Kanas Tech College
Forward 3 Peyton Williams So 6'7" 205 Tampa, Florida Lawson State CC
Guard/Wing 0 Dimingus Stevens Jr 6'6" 180 Washington, DC Seton Hall

Preview

Purdue is back in action tonight against Florida A&M in what feels like forever since their last game. The Boilers look to extend their record to 13-0 for just the third time in program history, the last time being in 2009/2010. Purdue was ranked #1 in the AP poll for the third time in a row this week and is the only team to be ranked #1 in consecutive seasons since the 75/76 Hoosiers.

Florida A&M on Offense

Florida A&M has struggled this year on offense and that’s being kind. They’re ranked 358th on offensive adjusted efficiency on Kenpom and are only shooting 39.6% from the field and 28.9% from 3. They don’t have any true scorers but their biggest offensive threat is junior forward, Jaylen Bates, who had 21 points against Kentucky in their last game. He averages 9.6 points and 7 rebounds per game.

Due to their lack of shooters, many of their plays include a weak side screen and cut up the middle for an inside shot. Purdue needs to crowd the inside and make the Ramblers beat them from deep, and with a 7’4” center, that shouldn’t be a problem.

Florida A&M on Defense

As bad as their offense has been, their defense isn’t much better. They are at the bottom of Kenpom of defensive rebounding and can’t stop committing fouls. They do force turnovers and run a 1-2-2 trapping pres. They will try to rattle Purdue’s guards to get quick points in transition. The Boilers love to crash the glass, getting second chance shots today should be in our favor.

What I want to see from Purdue

Purdue is clearly the better team here and shouldn’t have trouble establishing a lead early. In our last non-conference game, I’d love to get our shooting back on track. We have only shot 26.3% (New Orleans), 12% (Davidson), and 24.1% (Nebraska) from 3 in our last three games. TKR, Furst, and Loyer have all showed up big when we needed scoring outside of Edey. Smith has consistently been one of the best players on the floor on any given night, and that needs to continue.

Purdue needsw to attack the press, hit the boards hard, and go into 2023 as the number 1 team for the fourth week in a row.

Prediction

Ken Pom

Purdue: 81

Florida A&M: 48

99.9% chance to win

My Prediction

Purdue: 86

Florida A&M: 61