Elite Eight Preview: Virginia Cavaliers vs. Purdue Boilermakers

The Purdue Boilermakers began the season in the Top 25 of both polls and in the top-20 of KenPom’s rankings. Despite going just 7-4 over a tough out of conference schedule, they never fell out of the top-20 on KenPom. They did, however, fall out of the polls for nearly two months.

Of those four OOC losses, three came to ACC schools. There’s no shame in losing to Virginia Tech or Florida State, but losing to Notre Dame this year was bad. The Irish shot lights out in that game (11-of-21 from downtown), which highlights one of Purdue’s weaknesses, and something that Virginia might be able to exploit.

Purdue ranks just 169th nationally in three point defense. On Friday, the Tennessee Volunteers…