If we can steal this one on the road and then take care of business at home against Nebraska, we may find ourselves in first place in the B1G before the tricky slate of road games at Indiana and Minnesota. It also allows us to even out our loss to Nebraska.
Purdue is always tough at home, however this year, they have some interesting stats in B1G play:
They are the best team in the conference in offensive rebounds. Iowa is #2.
However, they are the worst team in the conference in defensive rebounds.
Kind of tells you that Purdue struggles to shoot and that their opponents dont have trouble shooting. So:
They are the worst shooting team in the B1G with regards to shooting percentage.
They are 9th best in defensive shooting percentage.
As far as other stats that stick out:
They are the worst team in the B1G in FTM's, and 2nd worst in FTA's.
They are the worst team in the conference in FT %.
3rd worst in made 3's.
3rd worst in assists.
And, Iowa and Purdue are polar opposites as far as scoring offense and defense. Iowa is the best offense and 12th on defense, and Purdue is 13th in offense and 3rd in defense.
The only other stat that sticks out as they are pretty much in the middle to bottom of the conference in the remaining noteworthy categories, is that the are the 3rd best team in the conference in turnover margin.
So, saying that, I dont think we need to do anything unique here. Garza has to stay out of foul trouble, we have to take care of the ball and shoot at an Iowa average type of game and we should win this one, barring an out-of-character offensive performance by Purdue.
