Kansas vs. Purdue Sweet 16 Preview and Prediction

Kansas is a team that most people thought would make it at least this far. Purdue was not, the Boilermakers have surprised people and exceeded expectations for most of the year behind their star Caleb Swanigan. Can the Boilermakers pull off the upset? Let’s look at this matchup.

Purdue Keys to Victory

As always the Boilermakers will jump on the back of Caleb Swanigan, can Swanigan do enough for the Boilers to pull the huge upset? He had some trouble offensively in the second half with Iowa State’s Deonte Burton.  The Boilermakers are big and strong up front, but this game may depend largely on the backcourt of Carsen Edwards and Dakota Mathias if they can have success the Boilermakers will have a shot.

Kansas Keys to Victory

Frank Mason needs to shoot the ball better than he did in the Jayhawks second-round victory. The Jayhawks shot lights off from the free throw line and if they continue to do that they have a chance to win it all. Another big factor could be the play of inside presence Landen Lucas he pulled down 11 of the team’s 36 rebounds against the Spartans, and he’ll play a big part against a Purdue team that usually is dominant in the paint. The biggest key could be something that Purdue can do nothing about and that is the fact that this is basically a home game for the Kansas Jayhawks.

Prediction

Purdue needs the usual big-game from their front-court, but to win this game they will need the backcourt to come through big time and I don’t think they are capable of doing it. If the game was on a neutral court I would give them a shot to pull this off, but the game is a home game for Kansas. I look for Kansas to win this game relatively easy. Kansas 82  Purdue 66