OSU at Purdue

Tonight, Wednesday, January 31, 7:00 PM

#4 Ohio State (18-3, 6-1) at Purdue (14-7, 3-4)

TV-Nationally on ESPN2

 

OSU likely starters, stat leaders

Mike Conley Jr., guard, 6.6 assists/game

Ivan Harris, forward

Ron Lewis, guard

Jamar Butler, guard

Greg Oden, center, 15.6 points/game, 9.8 rebounds/game, 30.8 minutes/game

 

Purdue likely starters, stat leaders

Gordon Watt, sophomore forward

David Teague, senior guard, 29.6 minutes/game

Chris Kramer, freshman guard, 2.8 assists/game

Keaton Grant, freshman guard

Carl Landry, senior forward, 19.1 points/game, 6.8 rebounds/game

 

Ohio State hits the road for the first of two away games this week. Purdue has not lost at home. On the road Georgia Tech beat them fairly easily, but they barely lost to Butler (I was there!) The Boilermakers were not able to pull off rally at Wisconsin.

 

Greg Oden and Othello Hunter have both mourned the loss of loved ones this week. Most likely they will both play, but as could be expected, they have missed practice and their focus may not be 100%. Ohio State has had trouble holding a lead and playing a complete game. The Michigan State game on Saturday night was a good example, as OSU watched a 20-point halftime lead disappear at the hands of Spartan point guard Drew Neitzel.

 

The tallest starter for the Boilermakers is forward Carl Landry at 6'7". He is a good rebounder and leads the team in points/game, rebounds and shooting percentage (62.5%.) It will be interesting to see what Purdue does on offense to avoid Oden. Landry is not a good 3-point shooter, but perhaps he will attempt to pull Oden away from the basket with some mid-range jumpers. Purdue has two freshman that are 6'10" and 6'11", but they both average 7 minutes/game or less.

 

Another Game to Watch:

Tonight, two of the top-three teams in the Big Ten square off, with Wisconsin visiting Indiana. Unfortunately, most of us outside of Bloomington and Madison will not get this game on TV.