Indiana Basketball vs. Purdue: 3 matchups to watch

Trayce Jackson-Davis vs. Trevion Williams

This matchup is pretty straight forward. Trayce Jackson-Davis is (arguably) Indiana’s best player. He’s a young, athletic big with the ability to dominate a game on the glass and in the paint. His propensity to draw fouls has been key in Indiana’s wins this season, and when he struggles to get there, it usually means Indiana is not getting to the stripe enough as a team.

Jackson-Davis will likely be matched up against Purdue’s Trevion Williams for the majority of his minutes. Williams, similarly to Jackson-Davis, is a volume rebounder and double-digit scorer. He actually leads the Boilermakers in scoring (11.3 ppg) while playing just over 21 minutes per game.

Staying out of foul trouble will be extremely important for both players and their teams. When these two are matched up with each other when they both take the floor, look for each guy to be aggressive early on in getting to the rim in an attempt to draw fouls and get to the line. Keep an eye on Williams especially.

Per 40 minutes, Williams averages 4.4 fouls. Jackson-Davis, meanwhile, averages just 2.7 fouls at the same time. Jackson-Davis needs to be aggressive and take advantage of Williams’ aggressiveness in order to have a successful afternoon on Saturday.

When they are not matched up against each other, they both need to dominate their matchup in order to win the game.