Purdue sophomore Caleb Swanigan puts up shot against Michigan. (AP photo).

Isaac Haas stands 7-foot-2 and weighs 290 pounds and when he’s in the game he’ll be joined by either superstar Caleb Swanigan, 6-9, 250, or Vince Edwards, 6-8, 225, so there’s a reason size is the first thing that comes to mind about Purdue, Kansas’ opponent Thursday night at Sprint Center. But it’s what Purdue puts around that size that makes the Boilermakers difficult to defend. They have shooters who stretch a defense.

“If they had a bunch of non-shooters, their whole team would change,” Iowa State coach Steve Prohm said the day before the Cyclones lost to Purdue, 80-76. “But they all can make shots. That’s why they can put so much pressure on you. Are you going to double? Can they get it out of the double too quick? Now they get a ball-reversal 3?. . . It’s a lot more than Swanigan and Haas when you really research them and talk to other coaches. You’ve got to defend the 3-point line as well.”

Purdue ranks sixth in the nation, two spots behind Kansas, with a .404 3-point percentage.
Dakota Mathis leads the team with a .458 3-point percentage, followed by Swanigan (.432), Vince Edwards (.425), Ryan Cline (.406) and P.J. Thompson (.402).

Purdue’s size will make it tougher for Kansas to score close to the basket, but if only if the Boilermakers retreat on defense quickly enough to contest shots, not an easy task against KU’s unrivaled speed. Kansas played such a clean game at such a fast pace against Michigan State. That and a partisan crowd combine to make Kansas a five-point favorite. Still, Purdue’s size is a concern for any team.

The day before losing to Purdue in the first round, Vermont coach John Becker was asked if had tried anything unusual to simulate Purdue’s size, such as holding a broom in the air and having his players try to score over it.

“We could try to score against a brick wall, is probably the closest thing we could do to try to emulate the size of Haas and Swanigan,” Becker said.