Opponent: Purdue Boilermakers (15-7, 5-4) 
Last Meeting: JaJuan Johnson took advantage of Indiana’s non-existent interior game and led all scorers with 20 points. The Boilers led by 10 at halftime and cruised to a 72-61 victory.
Last IU win: Way back in the Kelvin Sampson era. Eric Gordon scored 22 points while DJ White scored 19 with 14 rebounds in a 77-68 Hoosier victory. Of course that wasn’t the story. IU last beat Purdue on February 19,2009. Kelvin Sampson was relieved of his duties as head coach on February 22.
Everyone still itching to play this one? In the midst of IU’s brilliant 15-1 start, there is no team Indiana fans looked forward to playing than the Purdue Boilermakers. And with good reason. While Indiana struggled to keep the program above water in Tom Crean’s first three years, the Boilers were enjoying a sustained run of quality play, led by the recently graduated E’Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson. So during IU’s impressive streak, IU fans knew that vindication was on the horizon with what were sure to be two quality beat downs of the rivals. Then came the loss at home to Minnesota. And the one on the road to Nebraska. And the 5 losses in 7 games. Now IU fans are fearing yet another road loss and another February collapse by the Hoosiers.
Three reasons to panic: 1) The Hoosier defense is truly horrific. Whatever metric you want to use, Points per Game, Points per Possession , Total points, the IU defense is awful. Only once in B1G Ten play has IU held an opponent to less than a point per possession. Even with IU’s sometimes prolific offense, that’s a lot of pressure to keep up.
2) The rebounding on both offense and defense can be non-existent. This is actually very related to the first problem. Because IU has such awful transition defense, the Hoosiers can’t risk sending extra bodies after offensive rebounds, and on defense the Hoosiers are repeatedly caught out of position to not only defend a first chance but also to prevent a second chance.
3) Recent history doesn’t bode well. With the loss on Wednesday to Michigan, Tom Crean’s record in February and March fell to 3 and 30. More than the mind numbingly painful 2-30 conference road record, the record at the end of the season shows how IU’s lack of depth has come back to haunt the Hoosiers. After the loss, Crean said he was looking for “Warriors” in February. Perhaps he should just be looking for fresh bodies.
Three reasons for optimism: 1) The schedule gets to be slightly more favorable. While Tom Crean’s road history gives one pause, it should be noted that IU has gotten the hardest road games out of its system. And while there are obvious concerns about a 5-6 record, 6 of the 11 games were against what has become a clear top 4 in the conference including 4 on the road The B1G Ten schedule makers made up for IU only playing Wisconsin in Madison by keeping the Hoosiers only game against Illinois inside the comfy confines of the real Assembly Hall. Of the top four teams in the B1G Ten, IU plays only one, Michigan State, and that will be at home.
2) Contributions have come from a variety of sources. On the one hand it would be nice if IU could get consistent production from its stars. On the other hand, it’s been nice to know that Tom Crean can go to his bench and get productive minutes from four or five different sources. Remy Abell, Matt Roth, Tom Pritchard, and whichever of the Victor Oladipo/Will Sheehey duo is not starting have all come off the bench and given the Hoosiers something at different points. But the biggest contribution has come from Derek Elston who scored 20 points in his last two games. Of course Elston has teased IU fans in the past with spurts of 3-4 good games, but hopefully this time it sticks.
3) If this is the worst run of play, IU will be fine. Every team plays above its talent level for a few weeks and will play substandard basketball for a few weeks, but if the last three weeks end up being the worst stretch IU sees all season then there’s no doubt the Hoosiers will have met or exceeded nearly everyone’s expectations.
Scouting Future Opponents: 
Illinois hosts Northwestern on Saturday. Bruce Weber once again lobbies unsuccessfully for the back cut to be ruled unconstitutional.
Iowa hosts Penn State and tries to prove that there is in fact a worst defensive team than Indiana.
Prediction: Making fun of Purdue’s Yellow P will never get old. Despite the wailing and gnashing of teeth, I’m actually not so concerned about this one. Purdue’s greatest offensive virtue is its ability to avoid turnovers, but I think IU makes just enough shots to walk off the big combover with a 78-71 victory.
