Tip Time Preview

SERIES: Purdue holds a 94-77 advantage in the series. The Boilermakers have won six of the last seven in the series. The Boilermakers won both regular season meetings this season. Sunday will be the first time Iowa and Purdue will have met in a Big Ten Tournament game since 2007. Iowa is 2-1 against the Boilermakers in Big Ten Tournament games. The Hawkeyes beat Purdue in the first round in 2002 (87-72) and 2005 (71-52), while the Boilermakers beat Iowa in the second round in 2007 (74-55).

THE LINE: Purdue is a two point favorite.

THE NUMBERS

OFFENSE: PURDUE – 80.3 PPG, 49.7% FG, 39.7% 3 PT FG. IOWA – 84.0 PPG, 46.5% FG, 37.1% 3 PT FG.

DEFENSE: PURDUE – 68.5 PPG, 42.7% FG, 33.8% 3 PT FG. IOWA – 71.4 PPG, 43.8% FG, 33.2% 3 PT FG.

THE LINEUPS

PURDUE

6-6 forward Mason Gillis – 6.5 points and 2.4 rebounds per game.

6-4 guard Jaden Ivey – 17.2 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.

7-4 center Zach Edey – 14.8 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.

6-4 guard Eric Hunter – 6.1 points and 2.0 rebounds per game.

6-5 guard Sasha Stefanovic – 11.1 points and 2.4 rebounds per game.

IOWA

6-4 guard Tony Perkins – 7.4 points 2.4 rebounds per game.

6-1 guard Jordan Bohannon – 11.2 points and 1.8 assists per game.

6-9 forward Patrick McCaffery – 10.4 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.

6-8 forward Keegan Murray – 23.7 points and 8.6 rebounds per game.

6-9 forward Filip Rebraca – 5.9 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.

PLAYER TO WATCH – Keegan Murray – We haven’t really seen what Murray can do against Purdue. In the first meeting, he did not play due to a sprained ankle. In the second meeting he picked up two quick fouls, which limited his playing time in the first half and the Hoosiers won by ten. Murray has had an outstanding Big Ten Tournament and is poised to be the highest scoring player ever in the history of the event.

KEY MATCH-UP – Jaden Ivy vs Tony Perkins – This could be a very interesting head to head battle in this game. Ivy is the most explosive and dynamic player in all of college basketball. Meanwhile, Perkins has become Iowa’s best defensive guard with the ability to make life tough for opposing shooting guards. If Iowa is going to win they have to slow down Ivey and that will fall in large part to Perkins.

STATS AND NOTES

Iowa is 21-21 in Big Ten Tournament play. This is the fifth time Iowa has been seeded #5 in the Big Ten Tournament.

This is the fourth time Iowa has advanced to the Big Ten Tournament title game. They have won the title twice, but haven’t been to the title game since 2006. This is also the first time since 2006 that Iowa has won multiple games in the Big Ten Tournament.

Keegan Murray was named first team All Big Ten this week. It's the seventh time in nine years that Iowa has had a first team All Big Ten selection. Jordan Bohannon was named honorable mention All Big Ten.

Iowa is 20-0 this season when they out-rebound their opponent.

Iowa is 11-0 this season when they shoot 50% or better in the game.

Iowa has gone 11-2 since they shifted their starting lineup.

Head Coach Fran McCaffery enters his 26th season as a head coach now has achieved 490 career victories and has 240 career wins as the Iowa head coach. Fran McCaffery has guided Iowa to 20 wins or more in eight of the last ten seasons. He has led Iowa to Big Ten upper division finishes eight of the last nine years.

Jordan Bohannon returned for his sixth season. He is Iowa’s career leader in assists (699), free throw percentage (.887), games played (177), and 3-pointers (452). His 452 triples are the most by a player in Big Ten history. Jordan Bohannon became the third player in Iowa basketball history to reach 2,000 career points. He now has scored 2,020 points as a Hawkeye. Bohannon scored 30 points against Maryland. He made a school record 10 three point field goals in that game.

Iowa is the only Division I program with two sets of brothers on the 2021-22 roster, with one being identical twins. Connor and Patrick McCaffery are two years apart, while Keegan and Kris Murray are identical twins. The Murray twins are one of four twins on Division I rosters this season (Arizona State, San Diego State, and SIUE).

Redshirt senior Connor McCaffery ranked fourth in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio last season (3.7) and ranked first nationally in 2020 (4.6). Connor McCaffery has been white-hot shooting from 3-point range as of late, making 11-of-16 (.69%) from long distance over the last four contests.

Keegan Murray was named to the preseason All Big Ten list, the mid-season Wooden Award list, and a mid-season second team All American by The Sporting News. Last season Murray was named to the All Freshmen team in the Big Ten Conference. He was one of only five players nationally last year to amass 200 points, 35 blocks, 25 steals, and 15 3-pointers. He has a career best 37 points against Nebraska in the first meeting of the season. He scored 27 points and pulled down a career best 21 rebounds in the win over NC Central. He is the first 20 rebound Hawkeye player since Greg Brunner had 23 in 2006 against Minnesota. He is the first Iowa player to score over 20 points and pull down 20 rebounds in the same game since Bruce “Sky” King in 1977 against Ohio State.

Keegan Murray has scored 782 points this season. That is the most points ever scored by an Iowa player in a single season. Murray has now scored 1006 career points in two years with the Hawkeyes.

All-America candidate Keegan Murray, who averaged 25.9 points and 9.3 rebounds during the month of February, is the only player nationally to average 23+ points, 8+ rebounds, and 2+ blocks this season and one of three players from a major conference with those averages over the last decade.

Kris Murray scored a career high 29 points and hauled down 11 rebounds in Iowa’s win over Indiana earlier this season.

Tony Perkins has been playing the best basketball of his career in the last few weeks. Perkins scored 20 points against Nebraska and he also pulled down five rebounds. Against Illinois, Perkins has his first double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds.

Iowa has three new scholarship players this season. Center Riley Mulvey and forward Payton Sandfort are freshmen players for the Hawkeyes and forward Filip Rebraca, who is a graduate transfer from North Dakota. Sandfort scored a career best 21 points in the win over Alabama State.

Iowa is 3-1 this season in games played on a Sunday. The Hawkeyes are 45-26 during the McCaffery era in games played on a Sunday. Iowa is 1-0 this season in games played on CBS. The Hawkeyes are 5-6 on CBS during the McCaffery era.

KenPom.com has Iowa ranked as the 13th best team in the country and Purdue is at 14th in the country. Iowa is 14th in the NCAA NET rankings, while Purdue is 13th. KenPom.com predicts Iowa to win by the score of 81-80.

THE PICK

What a Big Ten Tournament this has been.

A lot of folks who forecasted this tournament said that it would be Iowa vs. Purdue on Sunday and they were right.

Iowa had a pretty easy time of it in the first two games before being pushed to the limit by Indiana on Saturday afternoon. Purdue has had a couple of good tests from Penn State and Michigan State.

Neither team is really know for the defense, which is why sites like KenPom.com has a total for this contest north of 160 points. But, playing three or four games in that many days might trigger a lower scoring game. However, it also might result in a poor offensive performance too.

Let’s talk some keys to this game.

First, we have to start with Purdue’s size advantage. It’s not just the 7-4 giant in Edey, but also Travion Williams as a more traditional wide body big man that causes problems. Rebraca is challenged in these type of situations and Iowa might have to play Josh Ogundele and maybe even Riley Mulvery to help on defense.

Second, Iowa has to keep Ivey from going wild. Purdue absolutely feeds off the skilled guard. If he gets going and starts playing downhill, Iowa is in for a long afternoon.

Third, this game is likely going to be one filled with runs. Both teams can fill it up and that means 10-0 runs can happen in the blink of an eye. Iowa needs to be on the right side of those runs if they are going to stay in the game.

Iowa can win this game, but they have to shoot it at a high percentage and rebound the basketball. That’s always easier said than right now. It’s certainly easier to say it than do it against a huge team like Purdue.

I think this has a chance to be one heck of a fun game, but Purdue is deep and talented, just like Iowa. They will also have what almost amounts to a home game for the Boilers. For that reason and the fact that Iowa can’t afford another slow start, I think Purdue wins a close game. PURDUE 77 IOWA 75