WVU vs Purdue Preview: Boiler Room

Game Day Vitals

• West Virginia Mountaineers (7-4, 0-0 Big XII) vs. Purdue Boilermakers (9-3, 0-0 B1G)
• Series Record: 1-6 all time (woof), fourth meeting since 2010
• Location: Oliver Garden (Capacity: 14,000) Morgantown, West Virginia
• Vegas Lines: N/A
  
• O/U mentions Robbie Hummel: 0.5
• Date: December 22th, 2013, at 1:00 PM EST
• Television: ESPNU / WatchESPN app
• Radio Affiliates

Opponent Information

• Purdue Boilermakers (9-3, 0-0 B1G), 8-0 at home
• Head Coach - Matt Painter, 9th season at Purdue, overall record of 210-103 (.668)
• Last Result - W over MD E Shore 79-50
• Official Boilermakers athletics website
• SB Nation Blog: Hammer and Rails

Interesting tidbit from the ever-trustworthy Wikipedia:

Washington & Jefferson College

1993–1998

After graduation from Purdue in 1993, Painter moved on to coaching basketball. His first year as a coach was an assistant coach position at Washington & Jefferson College.^[2] With his help, the team finished the season with a 22-3 record and a quarterfinal appearance in the NCAA Division III tournament.^[2] During this time, he worked as a forklift operator to supplement his income.^[3]

Game Preview

Purdue has good pieces, talented young players, but suffer from terrible inconsistency. Sound familiar? While the Boilermakers don't shoot as well as the Mountaineers, they make it up on the inside with AJ Hammons. The sophomore center already has 41 blocks on the season and, according to Travis Miller of Hammer and Rails in the most recent Staring Down the Musket, Purdue plays it's best when Hammons is dominant. The Boilermakers best scorers, however, are brothers Ronnie and Terone Johnson who average 23 points between the two.

This game will largely be won in the paint. If the Mountaineers let AJ Hammons go without a foul all game like Kyle Dranginis, then WVU might spend most of their afternoon trailing. On the other hand, if Staten and Co. drive to the basket and force some bad positioning situations from the Purdue big men, then we might be in business.

This one's a tough game to call, but this is Purdue's first game on the road. Even with the winter break and the absence of students, I think the atmosphere helps the Eers to a very much needed non-conference win.

Prediction: WVU 81, Purdue 75