The Iowa Hawkeyes (18-6, 8-5) are looking for a bounce back win from their loss at Maryland. The opponent is a tough one, the #13 Purdue Boilermakers (20-4, 10-3). Iowa last beat Purdue in the 2022 Big Ten Tournament and are 0-5 since and 2-11 in their last 13 outings. Ugh.
Purdue is coming off an overtime win at Nebraska after nearly blowing a 14-point lead with three minutes to go. It’s their third straight win after losing three straight to lose pace in the conference standings. In the game, they
shot just 13/46 from deep but owned the boards as Oscar Cluff & Trey Kaufman-Renn combined for 33 rebounds, including 10 offensive for Cluff.
In the last matchup between these teams, the Hawks led well into the second half and were sitting pretty after a 10-0 run gave them 9-point lead. At that point, Braden Smith took over en route to a 79-72 win at Mackey.
#13 Purdue Boilermakers (20-4, 10-3) Iowa Hawkeyes (18-6, 8-5)
Today, 2/14, at 4:00 PM, FOX (Tim Brando, Casey Jacobsen)
Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Iowa City, IA
Hawkeye Radio Network
Live Stats (StatBroadcast)
Stat Pack
Matt Painter (491-219 at Purdue, 516-224 overall)
KenPom ($): +29.85; 9th (127.2; 2nd | 97.3; 23rd)
BartTorvik: 8th (128.4; 3rd | 96.9 23rd)
Sports-Ref:
PPG: 82.8 (55th) | 69.1 (66th)
RPG: 36.8 | 29.3
Leaders (via Sports-Ref)
PPG: Braden Smith (15.1), Fletcher Loyer (13.6)
RPG: Trey Kaufman-Renn (8.8, 3.0 off), Oscar Cluff (7.5, 3.5 off)
APG: Smith (8.8), Kaufman-Renn (2.8)
FG% (min 10 MPG, 2 FGA/game): Cluff (72.6%), Daniel Jacobsen (66.7%)
3P% (min 1 3PA/game): Jack Better (44.6%), Smith (41.9%)
Last 5 games:
2/10: W at Nebraska: 80-77 (OT)
2/7: W v Oregon: 68-64
2/1: W at Maryland: 93-63
1/27: L at Indiana: 72-67
1/24: L v Illinois: 88-82
A win today would be Iowa’s best on the season and be that signature win to all but seal Iowa’s chances at getting in the NCAA Tournament. Given the recent history between these programs, it’s an especially high hill to climb. However, I’m taken back to Fran McCaffery’s first season where a home win versus Purdue was the signature victory to close the 2010-11 season represented what Iowa was aiming to achieve under McCaffery.
A win today would provide a similar narrative.
