Purdue Hosts Wisconsin For Hammer Down Cancer Game
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. –Â Purdue (10-9, 3-5) ends a brief two-game homestand when Wisconsin visits Mackey Arena for a Friday night battle. Brandon Gaudin and Stephen Bardo will handle the broadcast on FS1, beginning at 7 p.m. ET. On the radio, Rob Blackman, Larry Clisby and Ralph Taylor will have the call courtside on the Purdue Radio Network and TuneIn.com, beginning with the Purdue Basketball Pregame Show at 6 p.m. ET. Live stats will be available on PurdueSports.com.
• Purdue owns a 109-71 series advantage with Wisconsin, including a 13-9 record under Coach Painter. This is the first of two meetings between the teams as Purdue will return a trip to Madison Feb. 18.
• As part of Coaches vs. Cancer week by the NABC, Purdue will be wearing special Hammer Down Cancer jerseys that will be auctioned off. Proceeds will go to the Tyler Trent Endowment Fund, associated with the Purdue Center for Cancer Research.
• With 12 regular-season games left, 11 of Purdue’s 12 opponents are either nationally-ranked or receiving votes.
• SOMETHING TO WATCH: Two very similar teams will face off Friday night in Mackey Arena. Purdue has scored five more points (1,284 to 1,279) on the season and allowed three fewer points (1,149 to 1,152), both coming in 19 games. KenPom predicts a mere 58 possessions in the contest, the same number of possessions that Purdue and Virginia had on Dec. 4.
• Purdue is hoping to return to its form at Mackey Arena from its previous 15-game Big Ten winning streak before Illinois snapped it. The Boilermakers are averaging 75.9 points per game at Mackey Arena, and have shot at least 41.0 percent in nine of 10 home games. In nine games away from Mackey Arena, the Boilermakers have shot over 41.0 percent just once (Ohio).
• In Purdue’s three Big Ten wins, the Boilermakers average 70.7 points per game and shoot 42.4 percent from the field and 34.8 percent from deep. In five losses, Purdue is averaging 56.6 points and shoot 34.5 percent from the field and 21.9 percent from deep. In the losses, the Boilermakers average just 8.0 assists per game.
• Purdue is 9-0 this year and 29-1 since the start of last year when shooting a higher field goal percentage than its opponent. The lone loss came to Virginia in last year’s Elite Eight.