Texas Basketball: 3 reasons why Longhorns will upset Purdue

Timmy Allen and Christian Bishop can effectively force multiple turnovers from Purdue

A commonality in the seven losses of the season so far for the Boilermakers were some rampant turnover issues. As a team, Purdue registered a turnover percentage of at least 15.0 in five of their seven losses. Purdue also put up a turnover percentage of at least 19.0 in three of their seven losses on the season.

There are 14 games this season where the Boilermakers registered a turnover percentage of at least 15 roughly. And they put up a record of 8-6 in those 14 games. Meanwhile, Purdue only had one loss when their turnover percentage was lower than 15 percent.

That gives Texas a clear objective in this meeting with Purdue. They need to get some of their best defensive players ready for a gritty game where the Longhorns can force multiple untimely turnovers from the Boilermakers.

This means Texas needs to have the likes of senior forward Timmy Allen, junior forward Brock Cunningham, sophomore guard Devin Askew, and senior forward Christian Bishop ready for a scrappy game in transition and on defense. Allen will be a player of particular importance for the Longhorns in this one.

If Allen can give another well-rounded outing as he did in Texas’ win over Virginia Tech on March 18, then this will be a dangerous team for the Boilermakers to contend with. Allen forced two steals of the Hokies in the Round of 64 win. As a team, Texas forced Virginia Tech to put up a turnover percentage north of 18.