Purdue Basketball Looks to Limit Indiana's Jalen Hood-Schifino
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Indiana freshman guard Jalen Hood-Schifino is one of the most talented first-year players in the Big Ten, in not the entire country. Purdue got its first look at the projected NBA Draft pick back on Feb. 4 in a 79-74 loss at Assembly Hall.
Hood-Schifino took the reigns in the second half for the Hoosiers, helping them secure a victory on their home court by scoring a total of 16 points on 8-of-15 shooting while adding four assists.
As the No. 5-ranked Boilermakers host No. 17 Indiana on Saturday night at Mackey Arena, they'll look to disrupt his rhythm in order to come away with a win during a rematch between bitter in-state rivals.
"He's a shotmaker, he can distribute and he's got a really good pull-up game," Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "You just try to be into them and not let them get to their sweet spots as much as possible. I think that's easier said than done with really good players, but he's a good talent. He's done some really good things his first year. He's a real tough cover."
Hood Schifino recorded just four points in the first half of the first meeting between the two programs but managed to register all four of his assists before halftime. Three of his passes led to easy dunks for star center Trayce Jackson-Davis.
Another was to a wide-open Miller Kopp on the perimeter, who drilled a 3-pointer that put the Hoosiers ahead by double-digits for the remainder of the first half.
Indiana led Purdue 50-35 at the break, and when the Boilermakers made adjustments to slow down Jackson-Davis, Hood-Schifino was able to take over the offense.
Jackson Davis, who had 18 points in the opening period, scored just seven in the second half and was limited to 3-of-7 shooting. But Hood-Schifino took advantage of ball screens to find his rhythm from the floor.
"He's a good player and picks his spots well," Purdue senior guard David Jenkins Jr. said. "We're going to have to pressure him a little more and make him uncomfortable. With guards like that, they don't always like to be pressured. Obviously, when they have space and opportunity they're going to take advantage of it."
Hood-Schifino was 6-of-12 from the field in the second half, including four of the last five field goals of the game for Indiana. Purdue brought the game to within one point, but the Hood-Schifino closed the game with a layup and a fastbreak dunk in the final minute of play to send the Boilermakers home with a loss.
The freshman has scored in double figures in each of the last four matchups and is averaging 12.8 points per contest this season. He hasn't shot well from beyond the arc since making a career-high six 3-pointers against Ohio State on Jan. 28, going just 3-of-22 ever since.
But Hood-Schifino's midrange pull-up is a dangerous weapon that can get him into the flow of the game at any given moment. Purdue knows that firsthand and has an opportunity to flip the script with a Big Ten regular-season championship on the line with the result of Saturday's game.
"He's a great player. He's a talented player," Purdue junior center Zach Edey said. "Obviously with guys like that you have to try to limit their looks, but he's so talented it's really hard to do that. We have a lot of guys that can really defend, and we're going to put them on him and trust them to do their job."
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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.