Virginia Tech will host Purdue in one of the premier matchups of the 2010
ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The matchups were announced by the ACC on Wednesday
afternoon.
Tech will face the Boilermakers on Wednesday, December 1 in Cassell Coliseum.
Purdue went 29-6 last season and finished #12 in the final rankings. They were a
possible #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament until junior forward Robbie Hummell tore
his ACL near the end of the season.
With their top three scorers returning for their senior year, Purdue will be
a national contender in 2010-11. ESPN’s Andy Katz ranks the Boilermakers #2 in
the nation in a very early poll. He ranks Virginia Tech #22 in the same poll.
Purdue’s top scorer is guard E’Twaun Moore, a former Virginia Tech recruiting
target. He averaged 16.4 points per game last year, and he also led the team
with 93 assists. Hummell is a 6-8 forward who averaged 15.7 points and 6.9
rebounds. The final player of the trio of rising seniors is 6-10 forward JaJuan
Johnson, who averaged 15.5 points and a team-high 7.1 rebounds. He also blocked
72 shots.
Moore and Johnson both entered the NBA Draft, but like Malcolm Delaney, they
did not hire an agent. Both announced last Saturday that they would be returning
to Purdue for their final season.
Purdue did lose two seniors, guards Keaton Grant and Chris Kramer. Both were
good defensive players who averaged 6.6 and 6.5 points respectively.
Tip-off time and television coverage has not been announced.
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