Purdue vs Virginia: 2019-20 college basketball game preview, TV schedule
By Cody Gerena
The Purdue Boilermakers will look to get revenge over last year’s Elite Eight game when the undefeated No. 5 Virginia Cavaliers come into Indiana.
TV Schedule: Wednesday, December 3, 7:15 PM EST on ESPN2
Arena: Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Indiana
March 30, 2019, a day that will go down in tournament history. The NCAA Tournament South Regional Elite Eight match-up was between the 3-seed Purdue and the 1-seed Virginia, both teams coming off of tight victories in the prior round. Two teams that haven’t been in the Final Four since the 1980s were playing for a spot that has eluded them both for so long.
By the time the last 20 seconds arrived the game was firmly in Purdue’s hands with a two-point lead and possession of the ball forcing Virginia to foul them, but the game just slipped through their hands. Virginia got the ball back down three, made one free throw, then a last-second shot to send the game to overtime where they eventually pulled away to make the Final Four which was then followed by a national championship. For what was supposed to be the Boilermakers’ moment, was stolen from them by the Cavaliers in the final seconds of the game.
Now, the Purdue Boilermakers (4-3 )will try to exact revenge when the No. 5 Virginia Cavaliers (7-0) comes over by ruining their undefeated season. This game is a part of the ACC-Big 10 Challenge, which is tied 4-4 with 6 games to go as of this post. Virginia is 6-4 at away games in this event but are currently on a five-game win streak at it with the last away loss being in 2008 to Minnesota. Purdue is 7-2 at home in this challenge with their last home loss being the same day as Virginia’s last away loss with them losing to Duke.
Coincidentally the last time these two teams faced off against each other in this challenge was in 2006, where it was at Purdue, in the third day of the challenge, and featured an undefeated ranked Virginia against an unranked Purdue. Purdue won that game back in 2006, and they are favored to win it tonight by KenPom and the ESPN Matchup Predictor.
The Purdue Boilermakers are entering this game coming off of their best two games all season, where they beat a ranked No. 20 VCU 59-56 and lost in overtime to a now ranked (No. 17) Florida State 63-60. Both of these games were on a neutral court as part of the Emerald Coast Classic. It should be brought up that their other two losses come from quality games such as a four-point home loss to Texas and an away loss to Marquette where Purdue managed to have a lead of almost 20 points at one point of the game.
The Purdue Boilermakers offense is led by senior guard Jahaad Proctor, who leads the team in scoring with 14.6 points per game and is third in assists with 2.9 assists per game. Sophomore guard Eric Hunter Jr also gets the job done offensively by being third in the team in scoring with 10.3 points per game and first in assists with 3.7 assists per game.
The No. 5 Virginia Cavaliers will be coming into this game as one of the last 18 teams in the country left undefeated. They may have played an easier schedule then Purdue but they have been dominant for when it comes to the defensive side of the ball. The Cavaliers have the best defense throughout the whole country and are appropriately ranked first in Kenpom’s adjusted defense, which is deserved by being first in stat categories such as opponent field goal percentage(.288) and points per game (40.3). Not one team has managed to score more than 55 points on them, with Virginia holding three of those teams including Syracuse to under 35 points. Virginia’s defense is so good that it
Virginia’s offense is led by senior forward Mamadi Diakite, who leads the team in points per game with 13.9 and is third in rebounds per game with 7.3. Another key player for Virginia is senior guard Braxton Key who is second on the team in points per game with 10.3 points, and first in rebounds with 8.3 rebounds per game.
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No matter what happens it can be safe to assume that this game will not be a high scoring game thanks to Virginia’s amazing defense, and in the end that will give them the edge that Purdue will not be able to overcome.