For more on the Purdue Boilermakers, check out Hammer and Rails. You can also head over to SB Nation's main NCAA Basketball hub at SBNation.com/NCAA-Basketball.
Jan 21, 2012 - The recent chaos in the Big Ten means today's Purdue vs. Michigan State contest is a battle for first place. Illinois currently leads the league at 5-2, but the Fighting Illini are idle this weekend. That means the winner between the Boilermakers and Spartans will move into a first place tie.
For Purdue, they have had some missed opportunities so far, but this is the first game of a brutal five game stretch:
I like that we begin this stretch at Michigan State because we get one of the toughest games out of the way early. If we win it, we get a major boost of confidence that we can go 4-1 or 5-0. We've won two in a row up there in pretty convincing fashion, but that means very little since we did it with JJ and E'Twaun. The Spartans have looked vulnerable of late with two straight losses after winning 15 in a row, so the potential for a shocker is there.
The Only Colors is also a little nervous with Purdue coming to town. The Spartans are unbeaten at home this year, but they have lost two in a row to Purdue in East Lansing:
To me, that’s really the story of this game â€" can MSU impose their style of play on Purdue, most importantly by dominating with size in the post? If MSU is unable to do that, they may find themselves having to play Purdue’s game and open the door to suffer a home upset. This is a prime opportunity to right the ship, protect homecourt, and let struggling MSU players like Keith Appling, Adreian Payne, and Branden Dawson get their groove back.
Tipoff is at noon on ESPN.
For more on the Purdue Boilermakers, check out Hammer and Rails. You can also head over to SB Nation's main NCAA Basketball hub at SBNation.com/NCAA-Basketball.
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