Matchup Review | Purdue vs. Rutgers

Unfortunately the Boilers lost a close, hard-fought battle against Rutgers on Monday night which now means Rutgers holds a 5-1 record over Purdue in the last six games. Rutgers was able to out hustle and out physical Purdue for most of the game until Purdue was able to make a late game push to take the lead with under a minute remaining. Purdue, however, gave up a late game winning three pointer and were unable to get a good look at a game winning shot.

Let’s take a look back at the important matchups who ended up with the advantage.

1 | Zach Edey vs. Cliff Omoruyi

This was a big time matchup in this game and Omoruyi did an ok just against Edey with a lot of help from double teams. At times he was put in one on one matchups and Edey took advantage going for 19 points on 6-10 shooting and shooting 7-9 from the free throw line. Edey also had a game high 11 rebounds and was able to control the paint defensively when he was in. The issue was just that as Edey only played 9 minutes in the first half due to foul troubles. This is why Purdue struggled to score just 24 points and had a 10 point deficit heading into the second half.

Omoruyi scored 12 points but was only 4-11 from the field and only grabbed 6 rebounds. Edey and the rest of the interior players held him below his averages in both and he didn’t make much of an impact on the defensive end with only 1 block. With Edey out, TKR and Furst were able to defend him well which bodes well down the road if Edey struggles with fouls again.

Advantage: Purdue, even with Edey’s foul troubles in the first half.

2 | Purdue Limiting Turnovers vs. Rutgers Creating Turnovers

Well, this was not a good stat in the first half as Purdue struggled with the pressure Rutgers was creating on defense. Purdue had 8 turnovers with Rutgers grabbing 7 steals and 8 points off turnovers. Purdue did a better job in the second half taking care of the basketball with only 5 turnovers but Rutgers was able to generate 10 points off of those turnovers. Overall, Rutgers dominated that stat scoring a total of 18 points off turnovers and getting 9 steals.

Advantage: Clearly Rutgers

3 | Who Defends the 3pt Arc Better

This was going to be a rock fight behind the arc as both teams came in as some of the best perimeter defenses in the country. Again, the first half was an unmitigated disaster with Purdue shooting just 2-11 for 18% while Rutgers shot 2-7 for 29%. In the second half, Purdue finally seemed to be able to hit some timely and open shots from behind the arc going 5-12 for 42% but Rutgers was able to shoot 4-7 for 57%. Rutgers’ looks were generally contested but being able to go 6-14 for 43% while Purdue shot just 7-23 for 30% isn’t going to win you many games in the B1G. At some point, this might just be a team that shoots poorly from behind the arc as this now is the 5th game in a row Purdue has shot 30% or worse from behind the arc and the 7th game overall. The worrying trend seems to be playing out as a characteristic of this teams inability to find consistency.

Advantage: Clearly Rutgers