Maryland-Purdue Preview
Maryland will face Purdue tonight in a huge matchup of conference powers. The Terps are coming off losing 2 of 3, with losses coming against Saint Bonaventure in the Emerald Coast Classic and at Syracuse in the Big Ten/ACC challenge.
The Terps, and more specifically will need to cut down on turnovers in such a high-profile game, averaging over 20 in their last few games. Kevin Huerter was fantastic in Monday’s game against the Orange, making 7 3s. He will need to keep up his stellar play if Maryland wants to compete tonight. Justin Jackson’s size at the 3 really helped Maryland against this team last year, and they’re smaller this time around so that advantage must be exploited in my opinion.
Purdue comes in unranked, but this is the first time they’re not in the top 25 this entire season. The Boilermakers were dropped due to their poor performance in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament over thanksgiving weekend, in which they lost two of three games. They’re bolstered by a seasoned core of Isaac haas, Vincent Edwards, and Dakota Mathias who have helped them weather the storm since the departure of Caleb Swanigan after last season.
The game should be close, and although the Terps may not have the national pedigree of the Boilermakers, they will have a very loud Xfinity Center behind them as always, especially on a Friday. Two of the most talented centers in all of college basketball, let alone the Big Ten will face off tonight in Bruno Fernando and Isaac Haas, so a lot of eyes will be on that clash. The last three meetings between these teams have been extremely close, finishing within one possession every time and I see no reason for that to change tonight. I think the home Terps pull out the win 76-74.
