Purdue’s Bryson Scott couldn’t hide his excitement after the Boilermakers blew out the Hoosiers 83-67 earlier this season. When he was asked why, he laughed.
“Because they’re Indiana,” Scott said. “You’ve got to win against Indiana.”
IU (18-8, 8-5) will try to avoid being swept in a two-game regular-season series against Purdue (17-9, 9-4) for the first time since 2011 at 7 p.m. today in Assembly Hall.
The game is significant for both programs not just because it’s a rivalry game, but also because it has weight in clinching NCAA ?Tournament berths.
In aggregated NCAA Tournament field projections by bracketmatrix.com, the Boilermakers are sitting squarely on the bubble as a potential 11-seed. The Hoosiers are projected as a 7-seed.
The Boilermakers will come to Assembly Hall looking to add another bullet to their NCAA Tournament resumé. With time running out on its season, Purdue will no doubt be hungry for another road win, but that’s just fine by junior guard Yogi Ferrell.
“We always are going to want Purdue’s best when we play them because we feel like we’re going to give them our best,” Ferrell said. “That just makes the game that much more fun, going out there and trying to put on a show.”
The show won’t go on twice during the next regular season. An IU spokesperson said IU and ?Purdue will play only once next season at Assembly Hall.
That’s expected to become official Thursday when the Big Ten ?releases its home/away schedule pairings.
Under the Big Ten’s three-year scheduling rotation, teams play five conference opponents twice and the other eight once each season.
Five teams rotate in as double-play opponents in season two of the cycle before the remaining three teams and two recycled opponents become two-plays.
There are no protected rivalries in Big Ten college ?basketball like for football.
IU Coach Tom Crean said he’d like to see the rivalry protected because the fans — and likely the players — would like to see it twice, but added that there are “a lot of checks and balances” to work out.
“But this is one of the great rivalries in sports, as far as college sports,” Crean said. “There’s no question if we played twice, everybody’s going to know when those ?dates are.”
But that change isn’t as pressing as the game itself.
Purdue has won six of its last seven to rise into a three-way tie for second in the conference. Its success in the Big Ten season has covered up the struggles in the nonconference schedule that saw the Boilermakers go 9-4.
Junior guard Nick Zeisloft said IU needs to be smarter in the rematch against its in-state rival. IU repeatedly failed when it challenged Purdue center A.J. Hammons in West Lafayette. Zeisloft said being wiser about shot selection and making the extra pass should remedy that.
Crean said IU didn’t work “overly long” in practice this week. However, the Hoosiers spent extended time in practice sharpening skills and working with speed drills.
“I think our players are really looking forward to it,” Crean said. “They know that we have to play better against Purdue based on what we did the first ?time.”
