No. 1 Purdue Basketball Gearing up for Matchup Against Hunter Dickinson, Michigan
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue basketball (19-1, 8-1 Big Ten) is preparing for a road matchup against Michigan (11-8, 5-3), a team that's been more than a handful for the No. 1-ranked Boilermakers in recent memory.
The two teams split a pair of games a season ago, which included a dominant 82-58 victory for the Wolverines at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Mich. Purdue will return to that same building on Thursday for a 9 p.m. ET tipoff.
"We've had a tough time with them," Purdue coach Matt Painter said of Michigan. "They've, obviously, had some really good teams. I think it starts with Hunter Dickinson and just that matchup. Just how good of a passer he is and his basketball IQ, his ability to rebound, he just makes winning plays. He's a really good player."
Dickinson, a 7-foot-1 junior center, was one of three players unanimously voted to the 2022-23 Preseason All-Big Ten Team, alongside Indiana's Trayce Jackson-Davis and Purdue junior center Zach Edey.
Over his first two seasons of college basketball, Dickinson has earned multiple Big Ten accolades, including Academic All-Big Ten (2022), All-Big Ten first team (2021) and second team (2022), conference Freshman of Year (2021), and an All-Freshman Team selection (2021).
This season, Dickinson leads Michigan with an average of 18.1 points, 8.9 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game. He is among several talented frontcourt players that Edey and the Boilermakers will take on in conference play.
"I think you have to approach every game the same and try to keep your approach as even as possible," Edey said. "But obviously there are certain games where you look forward to them throughout the year when you play against those high-caliber bigs and the great bigs in our league because there's a lot of them."
Dickinson is a threatening scorer on the offensive end of the court with the ability to put the basketball through the rim from underneath the basket or on the perimeter. He's 10-of-25 from the 3-point line in 2022-23 and is one of four Michigan players shooting at least 40% from deep.
He has posted double-digit scoring in all but two games on the season while recording six double-doubles. In an 81-46 thrashing of Maryland on Jan. 1, Dickinson scored 32 points, just one shy of tying a career-high.
Last season, he went 21-of-64 from the 3-point line, but six of those makes came against the Boilermakers across two games. During the Wolverines' 24-point victory at the Crisler Center a year ago, Dickinson hit on a career-high four 3-pointers while tallying 22 points, nine rebounds and four assists.
"It's not high-volume, but it seems to be high-volume against us," Painter said. "You know there's no way they're not talking about it and going back to it. We can't allow it to be the focal point of what goes on."
Michigan enters the matchup with an 8-2 record at home with a narrow loss to Virginia in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge and another to in-state foe Central Michigan. Purdue, on the other hand, is undefeated in true road matchups.
"It's going to be a total team effort, like anything else," Painter said. "We have to do a good job on the glass, we have to do a good job in transition. Obviously, those are staples that you have to do well in no matter who you play."
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D.J. Fezler is a staff writer for BoilermakersCountry.com. Hailing from The Region, he is from Cedar Lake in Northwest Indiana and has spent the last two years covering Purdue football and basketball.