Column: Hoosiers cannot afford to overlook Boilers

Rarely, if ever, does the first basketball battle between Indiana and Purdue get upstaged, but this week has that feeling.

With No. 1 Michigan and ESPN’s College GameDay coming to Bloomington Saturday, the mid-week showdown between the Hoosiers and Boilermakers seems as if it’s just another Big Ten matchup, instead of the bitter in-state rivalry that it is.

Even if this feeling is true, tonight’s game in West Lafayette is the most important IU-Purdue matchup for the Hoosiers in the last decade because for the first time in a long time, all the pressure is on IU to win.

Why is all the pressure on the Hoosiers in this game?

Let’s start with the most loaded reason: this is supposed to be the year that IU dominates and Purdue flops.

Since the 2005-06 season, Coach Matt Painter’s first year at Purdue, the Boilermakers are 171-86 compared to IU’s record of 138-108.

While IU was struggling through the recreation of their program, Purdue was one of the best teams in the Big Ten and looked like they were on the same fast track to the Final Four that IU is on now.

As it turns out, a few injuries derailed the Boilermakers’ attempts at a national championship, while IU Coach Tom Crean began to stockpile talented Indiana natives to help return the glory of IU.

After IU’s success last season, IU fans crowned the 2012-13 season as the one during which IU would swing the proverbial scales that measure the IU-Purdue rivalry back into the Hoosiers’ favor for good.

The problem with assuming that IU will automatically dominate this rivalry for an extended period of time is the fact that Purdue’s freshmen have played better and have gained more experience than IU’s three freshmen not named Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell.

Purdue has six freshmen who have combined to play 1,734 minutes, including four freshmen who are averaging more than 15 minutes per game.

Painter’s trust in the freshmen has paid off as Ronnie Johnson and A.J. Hammons each lead Purdue in a major statistical category.

Ronnie Johnson leads the team with 3.6 assists per game and Hammons leads the team in rebounding with 6.3 per game.

Compared to IU’s freshmen Hanner Mosquera-Perea, Jeremy Hollowell and Peter Jurkin, who have all missed games due to NCAA eligibility-related issues, Purdue’s freshmen have had a lot more opportunities to grow together on the court, which could be invaluable to their learning process.

This year, the Hoosiers have the luxury of relying on veteran players to carry them, but down the road, Purdue’s freshman class might end up as better players because Purdue’s freshmen are gaining valuable experience by playing more.

Realistically, I don’t think this adds more pressure to the Hoosiers heading into Wednesday’s matchup, but after watching how injuries dismantled Purdue’s teams, I do think this should bring a sense of urgency to the Bloomington faithful.

Beating your rival is never a guarantee, so when your rival struggles like Purdue has this season with losses to Bucknell, Oregon State, Xavier and Eastern Michigan, you are supposed to kick them while they are down and not give them reason to celebrate.

If you are IU, you can’t lose to Purdue, just like Ohio State can’t lose to Michigan and the Yankees can’t lose to the Red Sox.

Wednesday’s game in West Lafayette symbolizes one of the important steps that the Hoosiers must take before they can be showcased for the world to see.

With a battle for first place in the Big Ten penciled in for Saturday night, all of the pressure will be on the Hoosiers because the Boilermakers have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Beating the No. 3 team in the nation would make headlines for Purdue, but beating the No. 3 Indiana Hoosiers would be like winning the Super Bowl, the Stanley Cup and the World Series all in one.

To prevent Purdue from upstaging Saturday’s matchup with Michigan, IU must handle the pressure of expectations by treating Wednesday’s game in West Lafayette as the most important game on the schedule — if not the most important game against Purdue in the last decade.

Prediction: The Hoosiers take care of business 74-60.

­— mdnorman@indiana.edu