Purdue's leading scorer Jaden Ivey expected to be back in starting lineup against Gophers

FULLER'S FOUR THINGS TO WATCH:

Ivey healthy

Try to remember the last time you saw a college basketball team bring its leading scorer off the bench.

That's exactly what Purdue coach Matt Painter did the last two games with sophomore star Jaden Ivey entering Wednesday's matchup against the Gophers at Williams Arena.

Ivey's an All-American candidate and arguably the top NBA prospect at the guard position in the 2022 draft, but he wasn't starting recently to nurse an injury.

"As far as the situation with me coming off the bench, I just tried to get into a rhythm," Ivey said after Sunday's 81-78 win against Ohio State. "Not force too much and try to get into a rhythm offensively.

The explosive 6-4 sophomore said he's been feeling better, so expect the Boilermakers to return Ivey to the starting lineup against the Gophers.

Starting wasn't as big as Ivey finishing the game Sunday. He scored a team-high 21 points, including the game-winning jumper with less than a second remaining.

Surprisingly, Painter actually drew up a different play to give the ball to 7-4, 295-pound center Zach Edey but it still worked out in Purdue's favor.

Curry back just in time

The center position was tough to figure out the last three games, but senior center Eric Curry is back from an ankle injury at just the right time Wednesday.

Purdue's two-headed frontcourt monster of Edey and Trevion Williams averages a combined 28 points and 16 rebounds per game this season.

Curry, who had eight points and six rebounds in 34 minutes in Sunday's 66-60 loss at Wisconsin, was averaging 10.6 points and 5.8 rebounds in Big Ten play before the injury.

The Gophers relied on senior Charlie Daniels and freshman Treyton Thompson in Curry's absence, but they combined for no points and four rebounds in less than 10 minutes against the Badgers.

Coach Ben Johnson said the Gophers are hoping Curry can get back to the level he was playing before being sidelined Jan. 12 at Michigan State. The 6-9, 245-pound sixth-year senior had a career-high 19 points and seven rebounds on the road against the Spartans.

Daniels, Thompson, and Danny Ogele combined for nine points and six rebounds in last week's 75-64 loss against Ohio State, but all of that was in the first half.

Daniels averaged 2.7 points and 4.0 rebounds in three starts. Thompson, a 7-foot freshman, had a season-high 10 points in 40 minutes in a 68-65 win against Rutgers on Jan 22.

The Gophers ranked last in the Big Ten in rebounding margin (minus-3.6) last season under Richard Pitino – and they're even worse in Johnson's first year.

The Gophers are 13th in the Big Ten in rebounding margin (minus-6.0) overall and 354th nationally in offensive rebounding percentage (18.8), per Kenpom.

Johnson's philosophy is to give up crashing the offensive boards to hustle back for transition defense, so that can skew the offensive rebounding numbers (league-worst 6.3 per game).

In Big Ten play, the rebounding margin between the Gophers and their opponents has been rather significant at minus-9.8. Only Nebraska is worse in conference games at minus-10.2.

In last week's loss to the Buckeyes, the Gophers were outrebounded 48-22, which included 27 second-chance points on 20 offensive rebounds. That was the most offensive rebounds allowed since Iowa had 27 in a double overtime loss at Minnesota on Christmas Day 2020.

Three and D

Last season, the Gophers shot a program-low 28.4% from three, but they've made a jump to 35.5% this season. They're better at three-point defense holding opponents to 28.7% shooting, ranking first in the Big Ten.

In the Dec. 11 upset in Ann Arbor, the Gophers held the Wolverines to 3-for-18 shooting from beyond the arc. But they allowed the next five Big Ten opponents to shoot 39.3% (48-for-122).

On the opposite end, the Gophers are shooting 32.6% from beyond the arc in Big Ten games, which was skewed up with a 13-for-24 game from long distance against Rutgers

Gophers senior guard Payton Willis, who tied a school-record with eight threes against Rutgers, and Purdue senior guard Sasha Stefanovic are 1-2 in the Big Ten overall in three-point percentage at 41.8 and 41.7, respectively. Sophomore Jamison Battle, the U's leading scorer, ranks fifth in the league at 36.7% from three.

GAME INFO

Time: 6 p.m. CT, Wednesday. Where: Williams Arena. Line: Purdue 11-point favorite. Series: Purdue leads the series 97-81 but dropped the last game 71-68 in Minneapolis on Feb. 11, 2021. TV: BTN. Online/Live video: BTN-plus. Radio: 100.3 KFAN

PROJECTED STARTERS

MINNESOTA GOPHERS (11-7, 2-7 in conference)

Pos.-Player Ht. Yr. PPG

G – E.J. Stephens 6-3 190 Sr. 11.5

G – Luke Loewe 6-4 190 Sr. 7.3

F – Jamison Battle 6-7 225 So. 17.6

F – Eric Curry 6-9 245 Sr. 8.7

Key reserves– Sean Sutherlin, G/F, 6-5, Sr., 7.1 ppg; Charlie Daniels, F, 6-9, Sr., 1.9 ppg; Treyton Thompson, F, 6-11, Fr., 2.4 ppg.

Notable: The Gophers have beaten a top-five opponent the past two seasons at the Barn. They beat No. 4 Iowa 102-95 in double overtime last season and won 84-71 against No. 3 Ohio State in 2019-20. … Junior forwards Parker Fox (Northern State transfer) and Isaiah Ihnen are sidelined indefinitely after offseason knee surgery. Fox, who tore his ACL and MCL in late March, is nine months recovered and could be cleared to practice soon. But it still appears that both Fox and Ihnen will sit out this season.

NO. 4 PURDUE BOILERMAKERS (18-3, 7-3)

Pos.-Player Ht. Yr. PPG

G – Isaiah Thompson 6-1 160 Jr. 6.0

G – Jaden Ivey 6-4 190 So. 16.8

F – Mason Gillis 6-6 230 So. 7.1

C – Zach Edey 7-4 295 So. 15.0

Reserves – Trevion Williams, F, 6-10, Sr., 12.7 ppg; Eric Hunter, G, 6-4, Sr., 4.3 ppg; Caleb Furst, 6-10, Fr., 5.0 ppg; Brandon Newman, G, 6-5, So., 5.6 ppg; Ethan Morton, F, 6-6, So., 2.7 ppg.

Coach: Matt Painter 398-192 (18th season)

Notable: The Boilermakers enters have lost the past two meetings at the Barn, including 71-68 while ranked No. 24 last season. They started this season with a 2-3 record in the Big Ten after being ranked No. 1, but they've turned things around, winning six of seven games, including Sunday against Ohio State.