Purdue vs. Kansas
March Madness
Pick with Analysis
3/18/12
The Purdue Boilermakers (10) have advanced to the 3rd round of the NCAA Tournament after dismissing St. Mary’s (7) in their opening Game. The Boilermakers won by a score of 72-69 despite leading by as many as 13 in the second half. Now they will meet the vaunted Kansas Jayhawks (2). The storied team beat Detroit (15) 65-50 to get their 2012 Dancing started. Purdue ended the regular season with a 6-4 record in their last 10 Games while the Jayhawks were 9-1 in that same span.
Purdue averages 72.2 PPG compared to 75 PPG for Kansas. The Jayhawks are better on the boards with 36.9 RPG versus 33 RPG for the Boilermakers. Kansas is one of the best shooting teams in America with a FG% of 48.5 against that of 44.1 for Purdue. The Boilermakers played a tough Big Ten Schedule that saw them finish mid pack in sixth with a 10-8 Conference record. Kansas dominated a good Big 12 by finishing 16-2 inside the conference.
Senior G Tyshawn Taylor is arguable the most important player on the cOurt for Kansas. He is second on team in scoring at 17.3 PPG and is also responsible for 4.8 APG. One of his best Games of the year was against Baylor where he scored 28 points. He also got 28 two nights before that against a good Iowa State team. Taylor is a very deadly three pointer shooter and connects at rate of 43.5%. He is one of the best shooters in the country statistically with a FG% of 49.2.
Junior F Thomas Robinson is a force down low for Kansas. A tough matchup, the 6-10 players gets 17.9 PPG as well as 11.8 RPG. That makes him incredibly deadly. He dropped 28 on Missouri in an overtime victory while cleaning the glass for 12 rebounds. Another great effort came when he got 25 points and 14 rebounds in the regular season finale against Texas.
It seems like senior F Robbie Hummel has been in college basketball forever. The big ‘fella first played in the 07-08 season and has been a dynamic force ever since, despite battling injuries. He was forced to miss all of the 10-11 year after tearing his ACL. He was better than ever this time around. Hummel averaged 16.3 PPG and 7.1 RPG this season. One of his best efforts was a 29 point and 7 rebound performance against Nebraska.
Senior G Lewis Jackson is also very, very important for Purdue. He averages 10.3 PPG, but has performed at a higher level in his most recent Games. Jackson scored 18 points in the Boilermakers first round victory over St. Mary’s. Purdue +8