NCAA Tournament Preview: Purdue sees a twin in its first-round foe

Purdue vs Norther Iowa - Time and TV: Thurs., March 19, 2:30 p.m. ET, CBS

The Purdue Boilermakers weren't promised a Rose Garden at the beginning of their basketball campaign, but after overcoming numerous injuries to win the Big Ten Tournament, coach Matt Painter's pupils have landed in the Portland arena with a solid seed and a chance to do some damage. Now in the Dance, the fifth seed in the West Region will have to beat a very similar foe if it wants to fulfill its preseason promise and potential.
 
The rigors of Big Ten play might be over for Purdue, but when the Boilers take on 12 seed Northern Iowa on Thursday in the Pacific Northwest, they'll see a team that attacks the game in a very recognizable manner.
 
The Panthers, champions of the Missouri Valley Conference, could fairly be viewed as a poor man's version of Purdue. UNI forward Adam Koch offers a long, rangy frame and a mix of finesse and power. Much like Boilermaker star Robbie Hummel, Koch can and will fight in the paint, but then show the ability to step out to the perimeter and drain 3-point shots. If Hummel is Matt Painter's inside-outside performer, Koch does the same kinds of things for Coach Ben Jacobson.
 
Near the basket, both teams have reliable centers who can score when asked to do so, but who are particularly valuable for their interior defense and rebounding ability. Purdue's JaJuan Johnson will go up against a beefy, brawny opponent in UNI big man Jordan Eglseder, who averages 10 points and 7 boards a game. Johnson might be much longer and quicker than his counterpart, but Eglseder possesses the muscle and width that are hard to counteract in battles for rebounds. Johnson and Eglseder, though gifted with different physical attributes, are both counted on to do the same kinds of things for their respective teams.

On the perimeter, one can still identify stylistically close comparisons between Purdue and Northern Iowa. The Boilermakers have a dynamic do-everything guard in E'Twaun Moore, but UNI can answer with the equally versatile Kwadzo Ahelegbe. Purdue has a sniper in Keaton Grant, but the Panthers have their own 3-point marksman in Ali Farokhmanesh. The lads from West Lafayette have a kamikaze competitor, Chris Kramer, who will fly around the floor and defend like crazy. Yet, the Missouri Valley champs would reply by inserting madman forward Lucas O'Rear into their lineup. If Kramer is the floor-burn specialist of the Big Ten, the equally tireless and appropriately-named O'Rear certainly busts his butt more than anyone else in the Missouri Valley Conference. The more you look at these lineups, the more they emerge as mirror images.
 
What, then, is the key for Purdue?
 
Before providing the answer, it's worth noting that this game is being held at the one subregional site that will not play an early game. Seven of the eight early-round NCAA Tournament sites play a game at roughly 12:30 p.m. Eastern, 9:30 a.m. Pacific, with the second games of the day session coming at roughly 2:30 Eastern, 11:30 Pacific. Only one site plays its first game in the 2:30/11:30 time window, and that's the site on the West Coast. In order to avoid playing a game that tips off at 9:30 a.m. in the host city (the NCAA does start games in the Mountain time zone at 10:30 a.m. local time, however), tournament organizers start game one when the other subregional sites begin their second games. The back end of this unique day session tips off at roughly 5 Eastern/2 Pacific, when the rest of the tournament is resting. Portland--like other West Coast NCAA Tournament sites--will be the one place to have four games without an extended break, given the absence of an early-morning tip-off.
 
Such details might seem meaningless to many casual fans, but with Washington bracketed in this same part of the draw and sitting just a few hundred miles north in Seattle, this first game at the Portland site could very well feature a dead crowd, at least for the first half.

What does this mean for Purdue? The Boilermakers, after dealing with a long cross-country flight, will likely have to generate their own energy and momentum when they step on the hardwood in the Rose Garden. Having played in front of revved-up Big Ten crowds over the past few months--including the conference tourney--Purdue will face a true neutral-site environment on Thursday. NCAA Tournament games often acquire a weird vibe, and thusly produce upsets, because higher-seeded teams don't handle the travel, the distractions, or the emergence of a crowd that arrives late but then starts cheering for the underdog. Therefore, like any favorite in the first round of the Big Dance, Purdue needs to create its own energy at the start, and let Northern Iowa know how difficult it will be to score and rebound for 40 minutes.
 
Yes, these teams are extremely similar in many ways, but it's worth remembering that while the Panthers do many of the same things Purdue does, the 12 seed can't do those things quite as well as the 5 seed from the state of Indiana. Lucas O'Rear spills his guts for UNI, but Kramer empties his tank even more. Eglseder is a tough center, but Johnson--with a lot more quickness and jumping ability--is even tougher. Koch is an impressive inside-outside player, but Hummel is even more spectacular. Anything Northern Iowa can do, Purdue can do better.
 
It all comes back to one key: work.
 
Precisely because UNI follows Purdue's basic modus operandi, the Boilermakers should win as long as they work hard enough to allow their physical superiority to emerge. If both teams play their best game, it's Purdue who should have more success getting to the rim and snagging rebounds, and that should be more than enough to propel Painter's pupils into the second round.
 
The Rose Garden might be thorny for a team in the same subregional as the Washington Huskies, whose fans might want Northern Iowa to pull an upset. If the crowd in Portland is either sleepy or hostile, Purdue has to display the kind of work ethic that will prevent outside factors from making a difference. In this rich man-poor man battle, the Boilermakers simply need to remind their opponent from the Missouri Valley about the power of the wallet.

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