Purdue Basketball Preview: Game 24 — Southern Cal

Posted by author February 7, 2025 Basketball

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Now tied for first in the Big Ten race, seventh-ranked Purdue returns to Mackey Arena for its first-even conference meeting with USC.

A FEW THINGS ABOUT PURDUE

• Purdue’s won three in a row nine of 10 since Big Ten play resumes, now landing a first-place tie with Michigan State atop the conference with eight more regular season games to play. The Boilermakers are looking for their third consecutive regular season title.

• This is the Boilermakers’ first home game against a member of the Big Ten’s new western faction. Purdue is facing the Trojans for the first time since 1988.

• Trey Kaufman-Renn and Braden Smith are the Big Ten’s Nos. 6 and 8 scorers in conference games, averaging 18.9 and 18.2 points, respectively.

• Fletcher Loyer‘s three-point percentage of 44.8 is fourth-best in the Big Ten.

• Wings Camden Heide and Myles Colvin are a combined 13-of-59 from three in Big Ten play, an area where Purdue will hope for a forthcoming breakout.

• Purdue is now seventh nationally in offensive efficiency, per KenPom, No. 1 in the Big Ten. The Boilermakers are second in the league in defensive efficiency, even after allowing 81 points at Iowa.

ABOUT THIS GAME

• In Eric Musselman’s first season at USC, the Trojans have played better and better as the season has progressed, scoring wins at Illinois and Nebraska, then dealing Michigan State its first conference loss, much to Purdue’s benefit.

• SC’s Midwest trip also included a game at Northwestern Tuesday, a 77-75 loss in the Wildcats’ first game without Brooks Barnhizer. Northwestern led that game by 15 with 10 minutes left.

USC leading scorer Desmond Claude did not play in that game due to a bone bruise in his leg suffered in the Trojans’ win over Michigan State. Claude played in Mackey Arena last season for Xavier. His status for Friday night remains unclear.

Claude is the Big Ten’s fifth-leading scorer at 19.3 points.

• USC assistant coach Quincy Pondexter was a standout for the Washington team Purdue beat in the 2009 NCAA Tournament in Portland. He then played eight years in the NBA.

• Through 11 games, USC’s scoring offense and scoring defense stand at an identical 76.1 points, good for seventh and 10th in the league, respectively.

• SC averages only 19 three-point attempts per game in Big Ten play and has made about 36 percent of them.

THREE KEYS FOR PURDUE

BE READY FOR ANYTHING	DRIBBLE D	PHYSICALITY AND POISE
Musselman will do different things, maybe from possession to possession. He’s probably one of the more unpredictable and manic coaches in America. Purdue will probably see man, zone and press, for example.	USC will try to attack off the dribble at a variety of positions, a style of offense Purdue has tended to do well against systematically. Doesn’t mean it’s easy.	USC’s athleticism and switchability and penchant for pressure could align with elements Purdue at times struggled with early ib the season. But that was a long time ago.

Not knowing whether Claude will play or not — there’s very little media coverage around USC and Musselman probably wouldn’t tell anyone anyway — makes this tough to predict, but Purdue’s rolling and this is going to be the Trojans’ first real taste of a traditional hostile Big Ten road environment. (The game at Illinois was a noon tip; it’s different.)