GAMEDAY INFORMATION -- GAME 30
[3] Purdue (26-3, 15-3) vs. [12] Illinois (22-7, 13-5)
Tuesday, March 5, 2024
7:00 p.m. ET | Champaign, Illinois
State Farm Center (15,500)
STREAMING: Peacock (Noah Eagle, Robbie Hummel, Stephen Bardo
RADIO: Purdue Global Radio Network (Rob Blackman, Bobby Riddell)
THE NOTES TO KNOW
• The No. 3-ranked Purdue Boilermakers take to the road for the final time in the 2023-24 season when it heads to Champaign to take on No. 12-ranked Illinois at the State Farm Center on Tuesday. The Boilermakers are looking for their school-record 16th Big Ten win of the season, but will face a tough challenge from one of college basketball's elite offenses in the Fighting Illini.
• Purdue owns a 6-0 record against nationally-ranked squads this year, with all of the wins coming against teams ranked in the top 11 at the time of the contest. In addition, Purdue owns an additional win over Alabama, which is ranked No. 16 in this week's AP Top 25 poll. Over the last three seasons, Purdue is 15-5 against nationally-ranked opponents.
• Since the start of the 2020-21 season, the senior class has won 57 Big Ten regular-season games, and a win in its next two games would set the school record for most wins in conference play by a senior class (57 -- Class of 2019).
• Purdue enters the week as one of nine teams nationally with at least 26 wins, while also being one of six teams with three losses. Among major-conference teams, Purdue, Houston, Connecticut (all with 3) and South Carolina (5) are the only high-major programs with fewer than six losses.
• Purdue has won 20 games under Matt Painter in 14 of his 19 seasons with at least 25 victories in 11 of them, including this year. Purdue is looking for its third straight season of at least 29 victories.
• Purdue has averaged at least 1.27 points / possession in 10 of its 18 Big Ten games, including being over 1.45 three times in league play.
• The top-two scoring offenses and two of the top three offensively-efficient squads will face off on Tuesday night. The two teams have combined to score 90 or more points 18 times (Illinois - 9; Purdue - 9). The rest of the Big Ten combined has 28 games of 90 or more points.
• Over the last three years, Purdue has already won 84 games overall, surpassing the school record for wins in a three-year span. Entering the week, Purdue's 84 wins are tied for the second most during that span in the country (Houston - 91).
• Purdue's schedule ranks as the sixth-most difficult in the country and its non-conference foes won the Southern Conference by three games (Samford), the Ohio Valley (Morehead State), the Atlantic Sun (Eastern Kentucky) and lead the SEC (Alabama and Tennessee) and PAC-12 (Arizona). Marquette (Big East), Gonzaga (WCC) and Texas Southern (SWAC) are in second place in their respective conferences. Nine of Purdue's 11 non-con opponents are legit NCAA Tournament hopefuls.
• Purdue has beaten teams ranked 4th (Tennessee), 5th (Arizona), 8th (Marquette), 12th (Illinois), 16th (Alabama) and 19th (Gonzaga) in this week's AP poll, with no losses.
• Purdue ranks in the NCAA's top 20 in wins (2nd), off. efficiency (2nd), rebound margin (2nd), 3-point percentage (2nd), assists per game (5th), scoring offense (8th), scoring margin (8th), fewest fouls per game (14th), field goal percentage (14th) and assist / turnover ratio (19th).
• Purdue leads the country in quad-1 wins (10) and quad-1 and 2 wins combined (16). No one in the country has more than 15 Q-1 and Q-2 wins.
• Since the start of last season, Purdue is 55-9, the fourth-most wins nationally, while the nine losses are the second fewest behind Houston (7). The nine losses during that span have come by 1, 5, 6, 14, 8, 5, 4 (OT), 16 and 4 points. Forty-one of the 55 wins have come against teams ranked in the KenPom top-100, including 28 against teams ranked in the top-50.
• Purdue was voted No. 3 in the AP Top 25 poll on Monday. With its No. 3 ranking this week, Purdue has now been ranked in the top 5 of the AP poll for 34 straight weeks, the longest-active streak in America by 17 weeks (UConn - 17). It has been ranked in the top 3 in 28 of those weeks. The 34 weeks of being ranked in the top 5 is the third longest in confererence history (41 -- Ohio State, 1960-63; 38 -- Indiana, 1975-77).
• A win over Illinois will give Purdue its 16th Big Ten win of the season, marking the second time in the Matt Painter era to reach the 16-win mark in Big Ten play, winning 16 games in the 2018-19 season.
• Purdue is guaranteed no worse than tied for first in the final Big Ten standings, marking the eighth time in the last 10 years that Purdue will finish no lower than third in the Big Ten standings.
• Purdue has won 11 of its last 12 games, and 19 of its last 21 contests entering Tuesday's contest with Illinois.
• Purdue is one of five teams (Auburn, UConn, Houston, San Diego State) without a loss outside Quad-1. Purdue's next three games are all currently quad-1 contests.
• Purdue owns a nation's-best 17 wins over the NCAA NET top-100 teams. Purdue has eight wins over teams ranked in the NET top 23.
• Five teams (Purdue, James Madison, Appalachian State, Weber State, UNC Wilmington) have at least one Quad-1A win (top 15 home, top 25 neutral, top 40 road) while being undefeated in those games. The other four teams mentioned above are 1-0. Purdue is 7-0 in that category.
• Purdue is 15-0 when holding teams under 69 points. The Boilermakers are 11-3 when allowing 70 or more points.
• Purdue is averaging 84.7 points per game, an increase of 12.0 points per game from a year ago. The Boilermakers' average is its highest scoring average since 1970 (89.0 points per game).
• Purdue has started the same starting five in all 29 games, the longest stretch to start a year in school history. Purdue has never had a season where it started the same five all season.
• Purdue ranks second nationally behind Saint Mary's in rebound margin, one year after leading the country in rebound margin. The last team to lead the country in rebound margin in consecutive seasons was Quinnipiac (2013-14 and 2014-15).
• When Purdue has a run of 10-0 or larger, the Boilermakers are 14-0.
• Purdue has trailed by six or more points in just nine games this year, posting a 7-2 record in those games.
• Purdue's leading rebounder is 7-foot, 4-inch Zach Edey. The Boilermakers' second-leading rebounder is 6-foot Braden Smith.
• A year ago, Purdue shot 32.2 percent from 3-point range, a number that ranked 281st nationally. This year, Purdue is at 40.5 percent, ranking second nationally. Purdue had one player (Braden Smith) shoot over 36.0 percent from deep a year ago. This year, Purdue has nine players over 36.0 percent.
• Zach Edey's 25.3 points per game in Big Ten play is the second-highest total in the Big Ten since the turn of the century (2020 - Luka Garza; 26.2). Edey's 13.1 rebounds per game in Big Ten play is the most since Michigan State's Lindsay Hairston in 1974 (14.2).
• Zach Edey currently ranks second in the country in scoring and third in rebounds per game. Since the 2000 season, only South Dakota State's Mike Daum (2019), Kansas State's Michael Beasley (2008) and Texas' Kevin Durant (2007) have finished in the top five nationally in both categories. He would be the first one to rank in the top three in both categories.
• Braden Smith has 359 career assists, leading sophomores (or younger) in career assists. Coincidentally, second on the list is Colgate sophomore Braeden Smith (336).
• In eight games this year against the NET Top 25, Braden Smith is averaging 18.3 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 4.3 APG and shooting 56.7 percent from long distance.
THE SERIES WITH ILLINOIS
• Tuesday's contest marks the 197th meeting between the two schools located just 91 miles apart, the second-closest rivalry in the Big Ten (Michigan-Michigan State is 64 miles apart).
• The 197 meetings make it the seventh-most frequently played rivalry in the Big Ten. Purdue's 106 wins are the fifth most against an opponent. The series has been played every year since 1947.
• Purdue has won four straight meetings after losing the previous three meetings by a combined 51 points. A win Tuesday would give Purdue five straight wins for the first time since eight straight wins from March 2009 to Jan. 2013.
• Purdue has scored at least 73 points in eight of the last 11 meetings, posting an 8-0 record in those games. When held to 72 or fewer points since March 2016, the Boilermakers are 0-3.
[3] Purdue (26-3, 15-3) vs. [12] Illinois (22-7, 13-5)
Tuesday, March 5, 2024
7:00 p.m. ET | Champaign, Illinois
State Farm Center (15,500)
STREAMING: Peacock (Noah Eagle, Robbie Hummel, Stephen Bardo
RADIO: Purdue Global Radio Network (Rob Blackman, Bobby Riddell)
THE NOTES TO KNOW
• The No. 3-ranked Purdue Boilermakers take to the road for the final time in the 2023-24 season when it heads to Champaign to take on No. 12-ranked Illinois at the State Farm Center on Tuesday. The Boilermakers are looking for their school-record 16th Big Ten win of the season, but will face a tough challenge from one of college basketball's elite offenses in the Fighting Illini.
• Purdue owns a 6-0 record against nationally-ranked squads this year, with all of the wins coming against teams ranked in the top 11 at the time of the contest. In addition, Purdue owns an additional win over Alabama, which is ranked No. 16 in this week's AP Top 25 poll. Over the last three seasons, Purdue is 15-5 against nationally-ranked opponents.
• Since the start of the 2020-21 season, the senior class has won 57 Big Ten regular-season games, and a win in its next two games would set the school record for most wins in conference play by a senior class (57 -- Class of 2019).
• Purdue enters the week as one of nine teams nationally with at least 26 wins, while also being one of six teams with three losses. Among major-conference teams, Purdue, Houston, Connecticut (all with 3) and South Carolina (5) are the only high-major programs with fewer than six losses.
• Purdue has won 20 games under Matt Painter in 14 of his 19 seasons with at least 25 victories in 11 of them, including this year. Purdue is looking for its third straight season of at least 29 victories.
• Purdue has averaged at least 1.27 points / possession in 10 of its 18 Big Ten games, including being over 1.45 three times in league play.
• The top-two scoring offenses and two of the top three offensively-efficient squads will face off on Tuesday night. The two teams have combined to score 90 or more points 18 times (Illinois - 9; Purdue - 9). The rest of the Big Ten combined has 28 games of 90 or more points.
• Over the last three years, Purdue has already won 84 games overall, surpassing the school record for wins in a three-year span. Entering the week, Purdue's 84 wins are tied for the second most during that span in the country (Houston - 91).
• Purdue's schedule ranks as the sixth-most difficult in the country and its non-conference foes won the Southern Conference by three games (Samford), the Ohio Valley (Morehead State), the Atlantic Sun (Eastern Kentucky) and lead the SEC (Alabama and Tennessee) and PAC-12 (Arizona). Marquette (Big East), Gonzaga (WCC) and Texas Southern (SWAC) are in second place in their respective conferences. Nine of Purdue's 11 non-con opponents are legit NCAA Tournament hopefuls.
• Purdue has beaten teams ranked 4th (Tennessee), 5th (Arizona), 8th (Marquette), 12th (Illinois), 16th (Alabama) and 19th (Gonzaga) in this week's AP poll, with no losses.
• Purdue ranks in the NCAA's top 20 in wins (2nd), off. efficiency (2nd), rebound margin (2nd), 3-point percentage (2nd), assists per game (5th), scoring offense (8th), scoring margin (8th), fewest fouls per game (14th), field goal percentage (14th) and assist / turnover ratio (19th).
• Purdue leads the country in quad-1 wins (10) and quad-1 and 2 wins combined (16). No one in the country has more than 15 Q-1 and Q-2 wins.
• Since the start of last season, Purdue is 55-9, the fourth-most wins nationally, while the nine losses are the second fewest behind Houston (7). The nine losses during that span have come by 1, 5, 6, 14, 8, 5, 4 (OT), 16 and 4 points. Forty-one of the 55 wins have come against teams ranked in the KenPom top-100, including 28 against teams ranked in the top-50.
• Purdue was voted No. 3 in the AP Top 25 poll on Monday. With its No. 3 ranking this week, Purdue has now been ranked in the top 5 of the AP poll for 34 straight weeks, the longest-active streak in America by 17 weeks (UConn - 17). It has been ranked in the top 3 in 28 of those weeks. The 34 weeks of being ranked in the top 5 is the third longest in confererence history (41 -- Ohio State, 1960-63; 38 -- Indiana, 1975-77).
• A win over Illinois will give Purdue its 16th Big Ten win of the season, marking the second time in the Matt Painter era to reach the 16-win mark in Big Ten play, winning 16 games in the 2018-19 season.
• Purdue is guaranteed no worse than tied for first in the final Big Ten standings, marking the eighth time in the last 10 years that Purdue will finish no lower than third in the Big Ten standings.
• Purdue has won 11 of its last 12 games, and 19 of its last 21 contests entering Tuesday's contest with Illinois.
• Purdue is one of five teams (Auburn, UConn, Houston, San Diego State) without a loss outside Quad-1. Purdue's next three games are all currently quad-1 contests.
• Purdue owns a nation's-best 17 wins over the NCAA NET top-100 teams. Purdue has eight wins over teams ranked in the NET top 23.
• Five teams (Purdue, James Madison, Appalachian State, Weber State, UNC Wilmington) have at least one Quad-1A win (top 15 home, top 25 neutral, top 40 road) while being undefeated in those games. The other four teams mentioned above are 1-0. Purdue is 7-0 in that category.
• Purdue is 15-0 when holding teams under 69 points. The Boilermakers are 11-3 when allowing 70 or more points.
• Purdue is averaging 84.7 points per game, an increase of 12.0 points per game from a year ago. The Boilermakers' average is its highest scoring average since 1970 (89.0 points per game).
• Purdue has started the same starting five in all 29 games, the longest stretch to start a year in school history. Purdue has never had a season where it started the same five all season.
• Purdue ranks second nationally behind Saint Mary's in rebound margin, one year after leading the country in rebound margin. The last team to lead the country in rebound margin in consecutive seasons was Quinnipiac (2013-14 and 2014-15).
• When Purdue has a run of 10-0 or larger, the Boilermakers are 14-0.
• Purdue has trailed by six or more points in just nine games this year, posting a 7-2 record in those games.
• Purdue's leading rebounder is 7-foot, 4-inch Zach Edey. The Boilermakers' second-leading rebounder is 6-foot Braden Smith.
• A year ago, Purdue shot 32.2 percent from 3-point range, a number that ranked 281st nationally. This year, Purdue is at 40.5 percent, ranking second nationally. Purdue had one player (Braden Smith) shoot over 36.0 percent from deep a year ago. This year, Purdue has nine players over 36.0 percent.
• Zach Edey's 25.3 points per game in Big Ten play is the second-highest total in the Big Ten since the turn of the century (2020 - Luka Garza; 26.2). Edey's 13.1 rebounds per game in Big Ten play is the most since Michigan State's Lindsay Hairston in 1974 (14.2).
• Zach Edey currently ranks second in the country in scoring and third in rebounds per game. Since the 2000 season, only South Dakota State's Mike Daum (2019), Kansas State's Michael Beasley (2008) and Texas' Kevin Durant (2007) have finished in the top five nationally in both categories. He would be the first one to rank in the top three in both categories.
• Braden Smith has 359 career assists, leading sophomores (or younger) in career assists. Coincidentally, second on the list is Colgate sophomore Braeden Smith (336).
• In eight games this year against the NET Top 25, Braden Smith is averaging 18.3 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 4.3 APG and shooting 56.7 percent from long distance.
THE SERIES WITH ILLINOIS
• Tuesday's contest marks the 197th meeting between the two schools located just 91 miles apart, the second-closest rivalry in the Big Ten (Michigan-Michigan State is 64 miles apart).
• The 197 meetings make it the seventh-most frequently played rivalry in the Big Ten. Purdue's 106 wins are the fifth most against an opponent. The series has been played every year since 1947.
• Purdue has won four straight meetings after losing the previous three meetings by a combined 51 points. A win Tuesday would give Purdue five straight wins for the first time since eight straight wins from March 2009 to Jan. 2013.
• Purdue has scored at least 73 points in eight of the last 11 meetings, posting an 8-0 record in those games. When held to 72 or fewer points since March 2016, the Boilermakers are 0-3.