tOSU vs. Purdue (Unofficial Game Preview)

[vrbryant]

The #16 Ohio State Buckeyes (11-1, 1-1)
vs.
The Purdue Boilermakers (6-7, 0-2)
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Wednesday, January 11 - 8:00 p.m.
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PURDUE - Official Site of Purdue Athletics - Well, that's it. Ohio State basketball will not go undefeated. Might as well pack it up and wait for the next football season, because I'm sure we'll go ice cold now, drop from the rankings and...what? We moved up? Huh. Maybe we should lose more often. All joking aside, the team's first loss coming on the road to a higher ranked opponent will not reflect poorly on them at all. Tonight's game in West Lafayette is a nice opportunity to put the away record to 3-1 and get started on a brand new winning streak. This Purdue team is having a rough go of things. They might as well call themselves the Bolrakes, considering all the pieces they've lost. Famed head coach Gene Keady: gone, retirement. Star swingman Carl Landry: gone, injury. Top recruit Nate Minnoy: gone, injury. They're like the Packers of Big Ten basketball. I would never presume to call a conference opponent a push-over, but in as much as Penn State failed to give us a battle, Purdue's prospects are less than plentiful. Here are what's left of the Boilers' roster.

#42 - Matt Kiefer​

In Landry's absence, Kiefer has more or less become the primary scoring option. The senior forward has decent size (6-10, 233), and has proven to be quite versatile. Matt leads the active roster in scoring (11.7 ppg), rebounding (6.2 ppg), blocked shots (10) and - oddly - three point percentage (.429). His line versus Michigan was flat-out stellar (8-12 shooting, 3-5 from the arc, 21 points, 8 boards, 6 assists and 2 blocks), but alas--they lost the game. The rest of the team was just 16 for 46 (.348) and committed 17 turnovers with just ten assists. Kiefer has improved steadily throughout his career, and is a solid Big Ten forward. Unfortunately, with the injuries and so forth, he's basically playing alone. Joining him in the frontcourt will be #33, senior forward Gary Ware (6-9, 245). Ware got the start last Saturday versus Michigan, and posted six points and ten rebounds, five of which were on the offensive end. He's a big body, and will likely be assigned to Dials. He's got eight blocks in his last five games, so he may be a capable defender. Not much to say, really, other than the loss of Nate Minnoy really hurts them here.

While Minnoy's injury hurts, Landry's injury has left the backcourt in shambles. Apart from #5, senior guard Bryant Dillon (6-6, 180), the guard play will feature two freshmen: #4 Chris Lutz (6-2, 189) and #20 Marcus Green (6-4, 204). Dillon will run the point with Lutz at the off-guard spot. None of these players have an assist-to-turnover ration of 1:1 or better. In fact, only one Purdue starter does. Wanna guess who?

I hate to cut the proceedings short, but apart from the fact that Matta will have this team ready - as always - to compete at every turn, there just isn't much to say. We should be ready to come out and rip this team its fourth, or maybe fifth 'new one'. I don't predict blowouts, but I give us the edge by more than a little. Frankly, I'm a hell of a lot more interested in this. Call me crazy, but it could be a good game. See you all this Sunday...

Projected starters:

Ohio State

F - Matt Sylvester
F - Terence Dials
G - J.J. Sullinger
G - Je'Kel Foster
G - Jamar Butler

Purdue

F - Matt Kiefer
F - Gary Ware
G - Marcus Green
G - Chris Lutz
G - Bryant Dillon


My prediction: OSU 78 - PU 67

Up next, Michigan State...