Purdue and Butler meet in Indianapolis on Saturday afternoon for the Crossroads Classic. Can Butler shock the world and pull off the huge upset? Or will Purdue finish strong before diving into conference play?
TV Schedule: Saturday, December 18, 12 PM EST. FOX
Arena: Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Records: Purdue (9-1), Butler (7-3).
If you like basketball and live in Indiana head on down to Indianapolis for a great day of hoops. Purdue and Butler hit the floor first in the Crossroads Classic at noon on Saturday followed by Indiana and Notre Dame. This should be a great day of hoops for the four programs in the state of Indiana. Sadly this will be the last Crossroads Classic between the schools as they have decided to go separate ways moving forward. Hopefully this last event can go out with huge success and we can get two great games overall.
These two interstate programs have met five times dating back to 2011 when this Crossroads Classic began in downtown Indianapolis. Butler is holding the bragging rights in the classic having won four of the five contests over Purdue. The Boilermakers do have overall bragging rights as they do own the all-time series against the Bulldogs winning 26 of the 39 meetings heading into Saturday.
Purdue had quite an interesting last week. They woke up last Monday morning on December 5th to be 8-0 on the season with some impressive resume wins and later found out they were voted the number one team in the country. This was the first time ever in their school history that the men’s basketball program was ranked 1st in the polls. Well, it did not last too long. Last Wednesday they went on the road to Rutgers and lost on a wild game-winning shot from Ron Harper Jr. to give them their first loss of the season.
The Boilermakers stayed out on the east coast to take on North Carolina State in the Basketball Hall of Fame Invitational that took place in Brooklyn. A lot of people including myself expected Purdue to come out and just hammer the Wolfpack all game long to take out some frustration from the game prior against Rutgers. That did not happen as Purdue needed overtime to eventually put away what many are saying is a middle of the pack (no pun intended) NC State team.
Purdue being a top-ranked team means they are not going to surprise anybody anymore. They will have a target on their back every single night because everybody will want to knock off one of the best teams in the country.
The Boilermakers are loaded with talent up and down their roster. It all starts at the point guard position though with Jaden Ivey. The sophomore guard in Ivey is a star and one of the best guards in the whole country averaging 16.4 ppg, 5.4 rebs, and 3.4 assists. Ivey isn’t the only main scorer you have to worry about on the roster either. Including Jaden Ivey, Purdue has 4 players who are averaging double figures in scoring. Those other players are Sasha Stefanovic, Trevion Williams, and Zach Edey.
Butler comes into Saturday with a record of 7-3 on the season. The Bulldogs had a rough showing in their matchup against Michigan State in their Gavitt game in November. They then went to Las Vegas for the Maui Invitational losing to Houston and Texas A&M. Butler did leave on a high note defeating Chaminade to get one win on the trip. Including the win over Chaminade the Bulldogs have won four straight games with a huge win on the road at Oklahoma in overtime last week.
Butler is currently led by senior Jair Bolden. The senior guard is averaging 11.4 ppg, 2.3 rebs, and 1.2 assists through the first 10 games of the year. Bolden has scored in double figures in seven games. What is impressive is that Jair Bolden only scored 3 points against Oklahoma and the Bulldogs still were able to come home with a victory.
The Bulldogs are also getting key contributions from two underclassmen in the early part of the season in guards Chuck Harris and Jayden Taylor. Guard Aaron Thompson was suspended the first three games of the season due to a violation of team rules, but has suited up the last seven games. Thompson is coming off scoring 14 points in their latest win over Eastern Illinois on Saturday. The matchup against Eastern Illinois was the first game that Thompson finished in double figures since he has been back from his suspension. LaVall Jordan and the staff is going to need Thompson to have a good year and step up in the scoring department for this team.
It is no secret that Purdue is really good on offense. The Boilermakers are averaging 87.4 points, and giving up 66.1 points to the opponents so far this year. Purdue’s scoring is 4th in the country as of Thursday. While Butler is averaging 64.9 points on offense, and allowing 58.3 points to their opponents. The 58.3 points to the opposition for Butler is currently 20th in Division I.
These two teams bring different styles of play to the court. Purdue would much rather have this game be more of a faster pace with their offense and multiple scoring options. The Bulldogs on the other side would very much like it to be more of game that is held in the lower 60’s where they grind out longer possessions and burn some clock along the way. It will be very interesting to see which style of play is more efficient in this matchup.
The Boilermakers have not had Butler’s number in this Crossroads Classic over the years up to this point, but they get a win over the Bulldogs to close out the 10 year event held in downtown Indianapolis on Saturday. Purdue just has a ton of fire power for Butler to stop for forty minutes in my opinion.
Prediction: Purdue 81, Butler 69