Purdue @ Illinois preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 27, 2019 ) Illinois 56, Purdue 73

Brad Underwood recently told reporters that he likes where Illinois is going, even after his team suffered its most lopsided defeat in Big Ten play. The Fighting Illini should have an opportunity to make their third-year coach look good over the next two weeks with four straight against unranked foes - including three in Champaign - and begin that stretch with a home date Sunday against Purdue.

Perhaps no Big Ten team had a more challenging start to conference play than Illinois, which opened league action by dropping a one-point decision at No. 15 Maryland on Dec. 7 and followed it up with a 71-62 home win four days later versus 13th-ranked Michigan. The Fighting Illini resumed Big Ten action Thursday but ran into a buzzsaw at No. 16 Michigan State, tying a season low in points and setting two others in field-goal percentage (29.3) and 3-point percentage (10.7) in a 76-56 defeat. The Boilermakers began the new year with a thrilling 83-78 double-overtime victory over Minnesota, getting a career-high 26 points off the bench from 7-3 center Matt Haarms in his second game back after missing two straight due to a concussion. "We just had to fight for it every step of the way. It's showing this team has fight. These games are about not playing your best basketball and still pulling a win out," Haarms told reporters.

TIME: 8 p.m. ET. TV: Fox Sports 1

ABOUT PURDUE (9-5, 2-1 Big Ten): Sasha Stefanovic (9.9 points) drained five of his eight 3-point attempts Thursday and led all Boilermaker starters with 17 points; the sophomore guard is 12-of-18 from 3-point range and has totaled 40 points over the last two games. Forward Trevion Williams (9.7 points, 7.1 rebounds), who just missed posting his third consecutive double-double with 14 points and nine boards, is averaging 14 points and 10.2 rebounds over his last five outings despite playing 24.2 minutes per game over that stretch. Fellow sophomore Eric Hunter Jr. (11.2 points) has tallied at least 16 points three times while reaching double figures in each of his last four and is shooting 42.6 percent beyond the arc (21.7 as a freshman).

ABOUT ILLINOIS (9-5, 1-2): Ayo Dosunmu (team-high 15.8 points) was one of only two Illini to score more than six points in Thursday's defeat, finishing with 18 to extend his double-digit scoring streak to five games - a stretch during which he is shooting 51 percent from the floor. Fellow sophomore guard Alan Griffin (9.0) provided a spark off the bench with 17 points and nine rebounds; he has scored at least 15 points in three of his last four outings despite averaging only 20.8 minutes over that stretch. Freshman center Kofi Cockburn (15.2 points, 9.6 rebounds) dealt with foul trouble en route to his worst game of the year, settling for a season-low five points on 2-of-10 shooting.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Illinois' next victory will be the 1,800th in program history.

2. The Boilermakers are 7-0 when allowing 59 or fewer points and have won 28 of their last 29 games in which they have outshot their opponent.

3. The Illini rank second in the country in rebound margin (plus-11.6).

PREDICTION: Illinois 68, Purdue 61