March Madness: Previewing Saturday’s Round of 32 Matchups
Iowa State (5) vs. Purdue (4)
This is another great 4-5 matchup. Iowa State beat Nevada by 11 points behind Monte Morris' near triple-double as the Cyclones' floor general totaled 19 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists.
Purdue beat Vermont by 10 behind Caleb Swanigan's 16 points and 14 rebounds. Swanigan and the rest of the Boilermakers should have a large advantage on the boards in this game as the rebounding difference is 7.5% in favor of Purdue. That may not seem like much, but Iowa State is one of only four remaining teams to haul in less than 50% of available rebounds.
If the Cyclones can keep the rebounding battle fairly close, they'll have a good shot at advancing to the Sweet 16. Our metrics give the edge to Purdue, expected the Boilermakers to win 54% of the time.
Below are three players to keep an eye on from each team.
| Player | Team | PPG | RPG | eFG% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caleb Swanigan | Purdue | 18.5 | 12.6 | .575 |
| Isaac Haas | Purdue | 12.8 | 5.1 | .589 |
| Vince Edwards | Purdue | 12.2 | 4.8 | .548 |
| Monte Morris | Iowa St. | 16.3 | 4.8 | .524 |
| Nazareth Mitrou-Long | Iowa St. | 15.5 | 4.7 | .601 |
| Deonte Burton | Iowa St. | 14.8 | 6.2 | .504 |
Here is a quick breakdown of the team stats comparison.
| Team | nERD | O Rtg | eFG% | Reb% | TO% | D Rtg | Opp. eFG% | Opp. TO% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #4 Purdue | 16.67 | 113.1 | .557 | 55.0 | 16.3 | 94.8 | .467 | 15.1 |
| #5 Iowa St. | 15.61 | 112.5 | .548 | 47.5 | 12.6 | 100.1 | .490 | 17.2 |
