Maybe it’s youthful exuberance – he is only a sophomore, after all – or maybe it is deep confidence in his team, but Elyjah Freeman thinks Auburn has one advantage against Purdue in the top-25 matchup between the two on Saturday in Indianapolis.
“I'd say it's just running the floor,” he said on Thursday. “Their bigs are pretty slow. We have quicker guys, in my opinion, than theirs.”
If Daniel Jacobsen or Oscar Cluff read that, the Tigers might be in trouble, as the Boilermakers have almost every advantage in the showdown in Indiana’s capital city. With Emeka Opurum already out for the season for Steven Pearl’s squad, Auburn is at a massive disadvantage in size against Matt Painter’s squad, something that cost the Tigers dearly in blowout losses to Michigan and Arizona already this season.
Elyjah Freeman isn't afraid of the Boilermakers
And, if that wasn’t enough, Freeman sort of implied that Auburn would have the coaching advantage in the game, something crazy to think about considering this is only Pearl’s 12th game as a head coach, while Purdue head coach Matt Painter is already a shoo-in for a Hall of Fame nomination once he retires.
“Yeah, it's just our quickness and our coaching — like, the way our coaches coach us, I feel like they can get the lead on them as well,” Freeman said.
The sophomore did admit that Purdue has one advantage on his side.
“They probably have more experience than us, because they've played together for a while,” Freeman said.