Purdue @ Penn St. preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 3, 2018 ) Penn St. 70, Purdue 78

Purdue will try to follow up a significant win over the Big Ten's leaders when it visits the conference doormats Thursday night with a matchup at Penn State. The 18th-ranked Boilermakers ran their winning streak to five games with a 73-63 victory over No. 8 Michigan State on Sunday, opening up a 23-point lead before fending off a late charge to avenge their last defeat.

"There were a lot of regrets coming out of that game," sophomore center Matt Haarms told reporters in reference to the earlier loss to the Spartans. "This time we felt we really had something to prove, because I don't think what we showed in East Lansing was representative of this team. Today we had a great opportunity to show everybody what this team is really about, and I think we definitely did that." Purdue is 1 1/2 games behind Michigan and Michigan State in the race for the top spot in the Big Ten, and it has just one team currently ranked - No. 24 Maryland - remaining in the final 11 games, including two matchups with the last-place Nittany Lions. Penn State saw another chance for its first league win vanish with a 64-60 home loss to Rutgers on Saturday, and the pressure continues to build on head coach Pat Chambers. "I feel really good about where we are as a staff and what we're doing as a program,” Chambers told reporters Tuesday. "My expectations are high. I did not expect to be in this situation. We just have to keep getting better and keep growing."

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

ABOUT PURDUE (14-6, 7-2 Big Ten): Junior guard Carsen Edwards entered Wednesday ranked sixth nationally in scoring (24.2 points per game) but was held to 14 on 4-of-19 shooting against Michigan State. Senior guard Ryan Cline picked up some of the slack with 17 points - boosting his average to 12.6 - while making 5-of-10 from 3-point range. Freshman forward Aaron Wheeler hit all three of his attempts from long range in the victory and he and Cline rank second and third, respectively, in 3-point shooting in conference play, combining to make 39-of-82 attempts versus Big Ten opponents.

ABOUT PENN STATE (7-13, 0-9): Junior forward Lamar Stevens scored 21 points in the loss to the Scarlet Knights to bump his average to 18.7, third in the Big Ten. His teammates combined to shoot 13-of-41 from the floor for a squad that is shooting 39.3 percent in league play, which ranks 13th out of the conference's 14 teams. Guard Rasir Bolton (11.4 points per game) bounced back from a scoreless effort at Minnesota to score 11 against Rutgers while fellow freshman Myles Dread (8.8) has reached double figures in four of his last five contests.

TIP-INS

1. Boilermakers G Nojel Eastern had a career high-tying 12 points, a career-high 11 rebounds and zero turnovers in 25 minutes against Michigan State.

2. Nittany Lions G Jamari Wheeler is scoreless without a shot attempt in 40 minutes over his last two games and has 12 points on 4-of-21 shooting in Big Ten play.

3. Purdue has won seven straight meetings, including the semifinals of the conference tournament last March.

PREDICTION: Purdue 72, Penn State 62