Iowa @ Purdue preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 3, 2019 ) Iowa 70, Purdue 86

No. 17 Iowa looks to keep pace in the race for the Big Ten regular season title when it visits Purdue on Wednesday. The Hawkeyes have won six of their last seven games, including a 72-65 victory over 21st-ranked Illinois on Sunday, to move into a second-place tie in the conference standings, and they hope to stay in the mix for the championship by taking down the Boilermakers in West Lafayette for the first time since Jan. 2, 2016.

“Everybody’s good and everybody’s deep,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery told reporters. “Now we got Purdue, the same team that won by 29 against Michigan State … and we have to be ready for it.” Purdue rallied from an eight-point deficit with under three minutes remaining to edge last-place Northwestern 61-58 on Sunday. Sasha Stefanovic knocked down the go-ahead 3-pointer with 3.1 seconds left as the Boilermakers ended the game on an 11-0 run to avoid a potential devastating loss on their NCAA Tournament resume, and they hope to play their way off the bubble by knocking off the Hawkeyes for the third consecutive time. “I think this is one that we kind of needed to have,” Stefanovic told reporters. “I think we just have to build off this and make sure we improve every single day in practice.”

TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: Big Ten Network

ABOUT IOWA (16-6, 7-4 Big Ten): Luka Garza drilled a career-high four 3-pointers en route to 25 points and 10 rebounds in the win against Illinois to register his Big Ten-leading 13th double-double of the season. “In order to win in this league you have to be the tougher team,” Garza told reporters. “I’ve never hit that many three’s in my life, not in high school or anything like that.” Joe Wieskamp added 18 points and six rebounds while C.J. Fredrick finished with 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor as the Hawkeyes extended their home winning streak to 10 games.

ABOUT PURDUE (12-10, 5-6): Trevion Williams continued his stellar play in the new calendar year as he scored 13 points and pulled down seven rebounds in the comeback win against Northwestern. Eric Hunter Jr. also tallied 13 points and Isaiah Thompson finished with 11 as the Boilermakers completed the season sweep of the Wildcats while notching their eighth straight win in the rivalry. Matt Haarms, who is averaging 9.5 points this season, was limited to four and Nojel Eastern was held scoreless for the first time in eight games.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Garza has scored over 20 points in each of his last seven games.

2. Purdue is 18-5 in the month of February since the start of the 2016-17 season.

3. Iowa has six Quad 1 wins this season.

PREDICTION: Purdue 77, Iowa 74