Louisville-Purdue preview: Top 15 teams battle in ACC/Big 10 Challenge

NO. 14 LOUISVILLE CARDINALS (5-1) vs. NO. 15 PURDUE BOILERMAKERS (5-1)

ACC/Big 10 Challenge

Game Time: 7:16 p.m.

Location: KFC Yum Center: Louisville, Ky.

Television: ESPN

Announcers: Dan Shulman (play-by-play), Jay Bilas (analyst) and Molly McGrath (reporter)

Officials: James Luckie, Pat Driscoll and Ron Groover

Favorite: Louisville by 6

All-Time Series: Purdue leads 11-5

Last Meeting: Purdue won 67-59 on Dec. 15, 2007 at the John Wooden Tradition in Indianapolis

Series History:

Probable Starting Lineups:

Statistics:

About Purdue:

Purdue enters Wednesday night having won its last four games, including a 79-68 victory over NJIT on Nov. 26 in its last outing. The Boilermakers' lone loss came in a highly-competitive game at home to No. 3 Villanova 79-76 on Nov. 14.

The Boilermakers won the 2016 Cancun Challenge, beating Auburn 96-71 in the title game on Nov. 23. Seventh nationally in assists (19.7 per game), Purdue is one of 29 teams in the nation shooting over 50 percent from the field.

Caleb Swanigan, a 6-9 sophomore forward, has a nation-leading five double-doubles this season and averages 18.0 points and 12.0 rebounds, ranking sixth nationally in rebounding. He is one of five players averaging double
figures in scoring. Fellow big man Isaac Haas is another huge scoring threat, averaging 16.5 points per game despite only playing 23 minutes per contest.

Over its last four games, Purdue is shooting 43.2 percent (42-of-97) from the three-point line, making it difficult for opponents to focus solely on the Boilermaker bigs.

Notable:

--Purdue has won seven straight games in the ACC/Big 10 Challenge, marking the second longest winning streak by any program in the history of this event.

--The ACC/Big 10 Challenge is currently tied 4-4 heading into the final night of play.

--Louisville has a 40-4 record during the month of November over the last eight years. The Cards had won 16 straight games in the month before their loss to Baylor last week.

--Purdue has won 10 consecutive in-season tournament games.

--Louisville is one of just four schools which have won 20 or more games in each of the last 14 seasons (also Kansas, Duke and Gonzaga).

--Louisville has opened with an 11-1 record each of the last four seasons.

--Purdue ranks in the nation's top 30 in assists, 3-point percentage, fi eld goal percentage, rebound margin, scoring margin and 3-pointers per game. Purdue and Texas Tech are the only teams nationally to rank in the top 25 in 3-point pct. and rebound margin

Ken Pomeroy Prediction: Louisville 73, Purdue 66