Busting Brackets
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Purdue Basketball: Five storylines to follow for the 2017 Big Ten Tournament

By Bryce Bennett

Feb 28, 2017; West Lafayette, IN, USA; Purdue Boilermakers forward Caleb Swanigan (50) stands along the foul line during a game against the Indiana Hoosiers at Mackey Arena. Purdue defeats Indiana 86-75. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 28, 2017; West Lafayette, IN, USA; Purdue Boilermakers forward Caleb Swanigan (50) stands along the foul line during a game against the Indiana Hoosiers at Mackey Arena. Purdue defeats Indiana 86-75. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /
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Feb 25, 2017; Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Purdue Boilermakers center Isaac Haas (44) dunks the ball in the second half against the Michigan Wolverines at Crisler Center. Michigan won 82-70. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 25, 2017; Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Purdue Boilermakers center Isaac Haas (44) dunks the ball in the second half against the Michigan Wolverines at Crisler Center. Michigan won 82-70. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports /

5. Tournament Revenge Tour?

Here is the bracket for the Big Ten Tournament this week.

Purdue sits with an opportunity to play two teams it lost to in the regular season.

First up, could be the Michigan Wolverines on Friday. The Wolverines crushed the Boilermakers, 82-70, in Ann Arbor a couple weeks ago. It will be interesting to see whether the dominance from Michigan was because they were home or a match up problem for Purdue. It probably is a bit of both.

Michigan’s roster construction has skill at all five positions. Almost at all times, every player can pass, dribble, shoot and drive. With Purdue’s size, this can be a tough cover, especially when a center can shoot 40 percent from three. Michigan’s Mo Wagner torched Purdue with 24 points on 4-of-8 three-point shooting in their first contest. Expect a game between these two to be close and down to the final minutes.

Should Purdue move on from that game, a Saturday game against Minnesota could await. The Boilermakers lost its only conference home game to Minnesota 91-82 (OT) in the beginning part of the season. Like Michigan, Minnesota has many skilled, athletic players that can drive, dribble and shoot. The concern for Purdue in this match up is controlling Nate Mason. The point guard scored 31 points and dished out 11 assists in the first match-up between these two.

An area Minnesota excels at and Michigan does not, is post defense. The Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, Reggie Lynch, recorded five blocks in Minnesota’s victory in West Lafayette.

Many top teams in the country enjoy an “easier” game in the beginning rounds of a conference tournament. That won’t be the case for the Boilermakers. Should Purdue advance to a title game on Sunday, it will be done with revenge victories over some of their losses in Big Ten play.

Now let’s look at one of the key players to Purdue’s chances this weekend.

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