IU hosts No. 2 Purdue in a game that could change the course of Hoosiers’ season

BLOOMINGTON – Indiana hosts the first installment of its annual home-and-home rivalry series with No. 2 Purdue on Tuesday night, in what looks like a hugely important game for the course of the Hoosiers’ season.

Mike Woodson’s team steadied itself with a comfortable home win over Minnesota on Friday, but the Boilermakers (15-2, 4-2) — among the nation’s highest-ranked teams all season — will present a different challenge. This Purdue team might be deeper, more dynamic and more dangerous than the one that won the Big Ten last winter.

DOYEL: Woodson has had Purdue's number, but IU coach knows Edey, these Boilers are better

What will be required of IU (12-5, 4-2) to land a key victory Tuesday night? Here are three keys:

Defending second chances

It seems borderline inevitable Purdue will pull down a comfortable share of offensive rebounds Tuesday. Cleaning the defensive glass has been a bugaboo for the Hoosiers all season, and Purdue is among the best offensive-rebounding teams in the country. At time of writing, the Boilermakers had pulled in a Big Ten-best 40.5% of their own misses in league play alone.

Preventing offensive rebounds will be important, but when Purdue inevitably grabs a few, Indiana will need to be just as stubborn and difficult to score against on second-chance opportunities.

That means finding shooters quickly in scramble situations. It means not leaving back-side passing lanes open. And it means embracing the wider challenge of doing a bit of extra work on defense when required, against an opponent that will almost certainly require it.

Yes, Indiana needs to be a better defensive-rebounding team. But even teams accomplished defending their own glass have been susceptible against Purdue this season. Some second chances will come. IU has to close those efficiently.

The 3-point line

Mike Woodson knows one of Purdue’s biggest growth points from last season to this one has come from range.

“That’s the biggest challenge,” he said, “having to guard the 3-point line and still deal with Edey.”

Purdue has improved by virtually any measure shooting 3s this season. The Boilermakers have more capable shooters. Their best shooters are shooting the ball as well as or better than they were a season ago. Edey is actually playing slightly less, a nod to the improvement of some teammates in the post, and Purdue is just as efficient as it was last year, if not slightly more so.

On the other hand, in Big Ten play alone, managing the arc has proven a difficulty for Purdue. Opponents are hitting 40% of their 3s against the Boilermakers, who have allowed the same teams to make 31 across their past three games. Alabama hit 19 against Purdue earlier this season.

The only two teams to beat Purdue this season (Northwestern, Nebraska) scored with the Boilermakers, finishing with 92 and 88 points, respectively. Without much fanfare — and admittedly in part as a function of who they’ve played — the Hoosiers have the best 3-point defense in the conference in Big Ten games alone.

Who makes best use of the arc, who defends it best and whether Indiana can power up its 3-point offense a little bit more than normal Tuesday night could prove crucial.

The Edey Plan

It’s an unavoidable part of facing Purdue, contending with Edey’s dominance.

Last season, IU all but allowed Edey his own personal runway. He finished two games against the Hoosiers with a combined 59 points and 34 rebounds.

Indiana beat Purdue twice in as many tries, because the Hoosiers were able to limit his impact in other areas. They exploited the gaps created by the drop coverages Purdue played with Edey in ball screens. Trayce Jackson-Davis found a fair few points in backside rim runs and lob plays. And no one enjoyed more success from the space created by Purdue’s own attention to Jackson-Davis defensively than Jalen Hood-Schifino, whose performance in the win at Mackey Arena was among the best in the series’ history for a freshman.

Woodson does not have Jackson-Davis now, but he does have a rugged two-man frontcourt of Malik Reneau and Kel’el Ware, two players comfortable getting offense in different ways and adept at drawing fouls. And Woodson has Mackenzie Mgbako, who has been much better on offense lately, especially at home.

How Indiana manages Edey might not be so important as how Indiana manages his impact on those around him. The supporting cast is probably more dangerous than it was a season ago, and IU cannot afford any of those bigs in meaningful foul trouble. If these are the last game plans Woodson will have to build around Edey at Purdue, it will be fascinating to see where his targets and tradeoffs will be. He has a big job on his hands Tuesday night.

Follow IndyStar reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana basketball vs. Purdue preview: 3 keys for Hoosiers