A newly expanded Big Ten Conference has presented the same old challenges for longtime coaches such as Fran McCaffery of Iowa.
“I’d say in many ways it’s as tough as it’s ever been,” McCaffery said. “Whether we have 12 teams, 14 teams, 16, 18 — they’re all really good teams. It’s not like you can ever look at anybody and say, ‘That’s an easy win’. Because it’s not.
“Every team has really good players, and every team has a really good coach.”
The grueling test will continue for Iowa (13-8, 4-6) as it tips off against No. 10 Purdue (17-5, 9-2) on Tuesday evening in Iowa City, Iowa.
Winners of nine of their last 10 games, the Boilermakers will look to stay hot after holding off Indiana 81-76 on Friday night. Purdue will hit the road for the first time since Jan. 18, when it knocked off then-No. 13 Oregon.
Purdue is led by Trey Kaufman-Renn, who is averaging 18.4 points and 6.2 rebounds in 22 games. He is shooting 60.4 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from 3-point range.
Braden Smith is second on the team with 15.8 points per game to go with a team-high 8.8 assists. He will try to stay hot after scoring 24 points in back-to-back games.
Fletcher Loyer rounds out the Boilermakers’ big three on offense. He is averaging 14 points per game and is shooting 46.3 percent from beyond the arc.
Boilermakers coach Matt Painter said other players have stepped forward in recent games, as well. That group includes Gicarri Harris, a freshman guard who scored nine points in 22 minutes against Indiana.
“He’s always made plays at the end of games, whether it’s AAU or (high school),” Painter said. “He’s always a guy that has wanted the basketball and made plays. You can see how he’s starting to get more comfortable out there on both ends of the court.”
Iowa is led by Owen Freeman, who is averaging 16.7 points and 6.7 rebounds a game. Three others are scoring in double digits, including Payton Sandfort (16 ppg), Josh Dix (13.3) and Drew Thelwell (10.7).
Freeman is coming off a 14-point, eight-rebound performance in his team’s most recent game, an 82-65 loss to Ohio State on Monday. He played 23 minutes — less than his season average of 26.4 minutes — and figures to be well rested when the Hawkeyes face Purdue.
“He got a little winded because he was running the floor hard, he was posting hard,” McCaffery said. “They really made him work. I probably would have put him back in with seven minutes to go or something like that if the game was a little bit closer. I wanted to give those other guys some momentum going. I just left those guys out there.”
This will be the 176th meeting between the conference rivals. Purdue leads the all-time series 97-78, including wins of 87-68 and 84-70 a season ago.
Iowa will look to beat a ranked opponent for the first time since Feb. 17 of last season, when it knocked off No. 20 Wisconsin in overtime.
–Field Level Media
