Illinois @ Purdue preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 5, 2020 ) Purdue 37, Illinois 63

No. 22 Illinois looks to continue its winning ways when it visits Purdue on Tuesday in Big Ten play. The Fighting Illini have won four consecutive contests, including a 75-71 victory over Northwestern on Saturday, to move one game behind ninth-ranked Michigan State at the top the conference standings, and hope to continue their climb up the national rankings by completing the season sweep of the Boilermakers.

“It feels good to be 5-2 and second in the in the Big Ten,” Illinois guard Ayo Dosunmu told reporters. “But we have more work to do and we start it at tomorrow’s practice.” Purdue is heading in the wrong direction after a 57-50 setback to No. 17 Maryland on Saturday. The Boilermakers, who shot a program-worst 25 percent from the floor in their 63-37 loss to Illinois on Jan. 5, have dropped three of their last four games to fall below .500 in Big Ten play, but return to West Lafayette where they are 8-1 this season, and hope to get back on track by extending their conference home winning streak to 16 games. “We have to do a better job of being ready to play,” Purdue coach Matt Painter told reporters. “We just need to keep battling and win our next game and keep our focus right there but it’s difficult."

TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: ESPNU

ABOUT ILLINOIS (13-5, 5-2 Big Ten): Trent Frazier drained four 3-pointers en route to a team-high 16 points and grabbed five rebounds in the win against Northwestern to become the 50th player in program history to reach 1,000 points for his career. The junior guard added three assists and finished without a turnover for the sixth consecutive game, while Dosunmu registered 15 points and six assists to help the Fighting Illini surpass last season’s win total. Giorgi Bezhanishvili tallied 13 points, while freshman Kofi Cockburn recorded 12 points and seven rebounds as Illinois shot 50 percent from the field.

ABOUT PURDUE (10-8, 3-4): Nojel Eastern produced 14 points, six rebounds and three steals, but it wasn’t enough as the Boilermakers couldn’t dig out of a 16-point hole at halftime. “We fought and when they came into the huddle I tried to get my teammates going,” Eastern told reporters. “No matter what the score is we’re going to go out there and battle.” Eric Hunter Jr. added 10 points while Trevion Williams, who was the reigning Co-Big Ten Player of the Week, was limited to eight points on 4-of-10 shooting from the field.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Purdue has won eight straight home meetings with Illinois.

2. Dosunmu has scored 15 or more points in six of his last seven games.

3. Frazier has played over 193 minutes without a turnover.

PREDICTION: Purdue 81, Illinois 74