Wisconsin @ Purdue preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 11, 2019 ) Purdue 84, Wisconsin 80

Wisconsin looks to build off one of its best 3-point shooting performances of all-time when it visits Purdue in Big Ten play Friday. The Badgers set a program record with 18 3-pointers en route to an 82-68 victory over Nebraska Tuesday to move into a tie for third place in the conference standings, and hope to keep pace with the chasing pack in the race for the regular season title by knocking off the Boilermakers in West Lafayette for the first time since Jan. 25, 2014.

“What comes with the big challenges is really great opportunities for us,” Wisconsin guard Brad Davison told reporters. “We’ve shown and we’ve proven that we can win on the road in this league.” Purdue is left to pick up the pieces after suffering its first season sweep at the hands of No. 22 Illinois since the 2008-09 campaign. The Boilermakers were routed 63-37 by the Fighting Illini on Jan. 5 while being held to a program-worst 25 percent shooting from the floor before suffering a 79-62 setback Tuesday to see their 15-game conference home winning streak come to an end, and hope to avoid falling to .500 by beating the Badgers for the sixth time in their last seven meetings. “We’re struggling from an offensive standpoint,” Purdue coach Matt Painter told reporters. “We’re searching for a crew to play good efficient offense and we just haven’t found it yet.”

TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: Fox Sports 1

ABOUT WISCONSIN (12-7, 5-3 Big Ten): Davison scored 11 of his team-high 14 points in the second half as the Badgers shot 52.9 percent from beyond the arc, eclipsing the previous school record of 17 3-pointers set on Dec. 23, 2010 against Coppin State. Brevin Pritzl tallied 12 points while D’Mitrik Trice added 11 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists in the win against Nebraska to register the first double-double of his career. Nate Reuvers finished with 12 points and four blocked shots to overtake Rashard Griffith (124) in fourth place on the program’s all-time blocks list with 127 while Kobe King had nine points and five assists.

ABOUT PURDUE (10-9, 3-5): Nojel Eastern scored 14 points and grabbed five rebounds while Trevion Williams continued his stellar play of late by adding 12 points in the loss to Illinois to finish in double figures for the eighth time in his last 10 games. Matt Haarms produced 10 points, six rebounds and all three of the team's blocked shots while Sasha Stefanovic finished with nine points but the Boilermakers lost the battle of the boards 37-19. “We just got out-toughed it’s just that easy,” Haarms told reporters. “You’ve got to hit a guy on a rebound and we failed to do that … so that’s what happened.”

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Purdue has won the last three home meetings with Wisconsin by an average of 16.6 points.

2. The Badgers are 7-2 since F Micah Potter was eligible to play Dec. 21.

3. The Boilermakers are 9-of-42 from 3-point range over their last three regulation losses.

PREDICTION: Purdue 76, Wisconsin 73