Boilers prepare for talented Bulldogs

By Doug Healey
and Paul Trembacki

For the Purdue men's basketball team to win its 13th straight game over Butler, the Boilermaker guards will have to contain the Bulldogs' explosive backcourt.

Butler's (4-0) guards are smaller than Purdue's (2-1), but what they lack in size, they make up for in speed and shooting ability.

The Bulldogs are led by 5-foot-9 point guard Thomas Jackson, who averages a team-high 15 points per game. The senior guard has also hit 41.2 percent of his three-point shots this season.

"Jackson is a key," said Purdue coach Gene Keady, whose Boilers play Butler at 7:30 tonight in Mackey Arena. "I think that he's the heart of their team. We better contain him or he'll destroy us."

But Jackson isn't the only Bulldog guard who can score. The Bulldogs' shooting guard, Brandon Miller, averages 11.5 points and leads the team in assists with 3.5 per game.

"Our main focus is gonna be pressuring the guards, because they can shoot the three well," said senior guard Joe Marshall. "We have to make sure their guards don’t get any clear looks. And if we can keep their guards from getting good looks at the basket, I think we can get a win."

Purdue junior Willie Deane, who has come off the bench to play shooting guard in each of Purdue's games this season, will start at point guard in place of sophomore Austin Parkinson, who had started the team's first three games.

"I just want to try to play up-tempo, but under control, and get my teammates into the game first," said Deane, who has averaged 11.3 points in Purdue's first three games. "That's the most important thing. Everybody has to play together and get into the flow of the game.

"We're not gonna change the style of play we're accustomed to. We're a transition team, but if that's not working then we have the versatility where we can go to a half-court set, because we have good shooters as well."

Although Deane is one of Purdue's quickest players, he has had a tendency to get into foul trouble early this season.

"I'm just gonna come out aggressive, not too aggressive, but aggressive enough to see how the refs are calling it," said Deane. "If they're calling it a certain way, then I'll just have to adjust my defense to the way they're calling it. But we always have to have a hand in their faces."

Butler is a smaller school and plays in the Horizon League Conference. But Keady said the Bulldogs are a very talented team and should be taken seriously.

"I think that Butler is every bit as good as Stanford," said Keady, who needs four more wins to reach 500 for his career. "I think if they played each other it'd be a heck of a game. I think our problem might be that our players don't believe that."

Marshall said he and his teammates know how good the Bulldogs are, however.

"I don’t think we overlook teams," said Marshall. "I think right now we lack the killer instinct that we need. Once we get hungry, it's gonna show. But now we let off and let the team back in the game, and that's something we have to clear up."

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Sports editor:
Paul Trembacki

Assistant sports editor:
Doug Healey

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