Purdue @ Rutgers preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 15, 2019 ) Rutgers 54, Purdue 89

No team in college basketball has a better home record this season than Rutgers, and the ability to get stops when they need them is a major part of the reason why fourth-year coach Steve Pikiell's team remained unbeaten in Piscataway over the weekend. The 25th-ranked Scarlet Knights attempt to continue their best Big Ten start Tuesday when they host Purdue in a battle of the conference's top two defensive teams.

Rutgers coughed up a 14-point lead early in the second half and trailed by six with just over three minutes left before the Scarlet Knights clamped down and scored the final nine points of the game, including Geo Baker's game-winning 3-pointer with just over a second remaining in Saturday's 75-72 win over Nebraska. "Our defense wasn't great, but it was great when it needed to be, and our offense, too, so I'm happy for that. … I appreciate those kinds of games where you're not at your best and you still find a way to win," Pikiell said after his team improved to 14-0 at home. The Boilermakers entered Friday two games under .500 in Big Ten play but looked nothing like a team that had just dropped three of four after dismantling Wisconsin 70-51. Purdue, which is 9-2 at home but 2-7 outside of West Lafayette (including 1-5 in true road contests), outrebounded the Badgers 42-16 and enjoyed a 19-2 advantage in second-chance points just days after coach Matt Painter challenged his team's intensity.

TIME: 8 p.m. ET. TV: Big Ten Network

ABOUT PURDUE (11-9, 4-5 Big Ten): Evan Boudreaux (4.1 points, 3.3 rebounds) was rewarded with his first start of the season after Painter identified him as the player who brought the most energy to practice after last Tuesday's loss to Illinois, and he delivered with 10 points and 13 rebounds for his first double-double of 2019-20. The senior forward picked up the slack for sophomore forward Trevion Williams (team-high 11.0 points, 7.5 rebounds), who has totaled 41 points and 23 boards in four games since amassing career highs of 36 points and 20 rebounds in a double-overtime loss at Michigan on Jan. 9. Second-leading scorer Eric Hunter Jr. (10.2 points) has also struggled over his last two outings, amassing only 10 points after reaching double figures in seven of his previous eight games.

ABOUT RUTGERS (15-5, 6-3): The Scarlet Knights can only hope Saturday's clutch 3-pointer can spark Baker (10.0 points), who has seen his scoring average drop in seven straight games - a stretch during which he is shooting only 26.8 percent - since a 22-point effort against Wisconsin on Dec. 11. Akwasi Yeboah (10.0 points, 4.5 rebounds) contributed a season-high 20 points versus the Cornhuskers to push him over the 1,500-point mark for his career - 1,317 of which came in three years at Stony Brook. Sophomore forward Myles Johnson (9.2 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.6 blocks) swatted a career-high five shots - the most ever by a Scarlet Knight in a Big Ten contest - and collected 11 boards for his ninth double-digit effort on the glass this season.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Purdue is allowing a league-low 60 points per game (11th in Division I) while Rutgers ranks second at 60.7 (16th).

2. The Boilermakers had as many offensive rebounds Friday (16) as the Badgers had total rebounds (16).

3. With a victory Tuesday, the Scarlet Knights will notch their sixth home win in conference action - the most for the program since going 6-2 in Piscataway as a member of the Big East in 2003-04.

PREDICTION: Rutgers 63, Purdue 56