Santa Clara at Purdue

College Basketball Invitational Quarterfinals

Santa Clara Broncos at Purdue Boilermakers

Monday, March 25, 2013. 4:00 PM PDT.

Mackey Arena, West Lafayette, Indiana.

Purdue hails from the Big Ten, is 16-17 on the season and went 8-10 in the Big Ten regular season. The Boilermakers are on a one game winning streak and are 12-6 at home.

Santa Clara is 22-11 on the season, went 9-7 in WCC regular season play, 7-6 away from home and is on a one game winning streak.

Online: Live video from Purdue Athletics. Live audio from Santa Clara Athletics.

Santa Clara features an experienced and efficient offensive attack. Purdue features an inexperienced and inexperienced offensive attack. Per KenPom, Santa Clara is the 47th most experienced team in the country while Purdue is 310th. The Boilermakers roster has seven freshmen, three sophomores, three juniors and two seniors. The Broncos roster has five seniors, five sophomores and two juniors.  The Boilermakers score 0.96 points per possession, the Broncos score 1.06 points per possession.


Purdue is better on the defensive end though. The Boilermakers hold opponents to just 40.2% shooting.
That can spell disaster for a streaky Broncos squad. In their 20 wins against D1 opponents the Broncos shot 46.4% from the field, three percentage points above the national average and four above the the Boilermakers'. In losses however the Broncos' percentage drops to 39.3%.

Only once this season have the Boilermakers defeated a team that scored at a higher rate than the Broncos average. In the CBI opener Western Illinois scored 1.09 points per possession. Purdue had to play their best offensive game in order to get past Western Illinois. The Boilermakers scored at a rate of 1.26 points per possession (0.10ppp higher than the national leader in average PPP, Indiana).

If the Broncos can play their game and make their shots, even at just an average rate, they can pick up the road win against a team from the nation's best conference (good enough to send a sub .500 team to the post season). If the Broncos are cold from the field it will be a long night in snowy West Lafayette.