Feb. 14, 2012

Purdue game notes

Tip: 8:36 p.m. ET
Television: BTN. Gus Johnson handles play-by-play with Shon Morris alongside as color analyst.
Radio: The Purdue Sports Network (Flagship - WSHP, 95.7 FM). Larry "Cliz" Clisby (play-by-play) and Rob Blackman (analyst) and call the action. Blackman also handles the pregame show, and Wes Scott engineers.
Satellite Radio: Sirius 91; XM 91.
Rankings: Purdue is not ranked in either the Associated Press or ESPN/USA Today polls. Illinois is not ranked in either poll.
Live Stats: Illinois will provide GameTracker live stats for Wednesday's game. A link to those stats can be found at purduesports.com.

GAME STORYLINES
» The Boilermakers look to get over .500 on the road in America's top conference on Wednesday when they head to Assembly Hall to square off with Illinois.

» Purdue has taken the last six meetings between the two teams, including the last two in Champaign; the Boilers claimed a 75-60 victory at Mackey Arena on Dec. 31 behind 14 points from Kelsey Barlow and 12 from Ryne Smith.

» Wednesday's game is the 14th meeting between Purdue and Illinois with Matt Painter and Bruce Weber at the helm, respectively; Painter is 9-4 against the Illini as Purdue's head coach.

» Purdue is tied for the Big Ten lead with 29 true road wins since the start of the 2007-08 season; Painter has guided the Boilermakers to a 31-23 (.574) record in their last 54 road games.

» Purdue is the nation's best team at taking care of the basketball, ranking first nationally with an average of just 8.8 per game; the Boilers are averaging just 4.3 turnovers per game in their last four outings.

» The Boilers are also among the nation's best in assist-to-turnover ratio and turnover margin, ranking third (1.52) and seventh (+4.9), respectively; Purdue has forced opponents into an average of 13.7 turnovers per game this season and owns an average +6.0 margin in points off of turnovers.

» The Boilers are 22-of-42 (.524) from three-point range in their last two games, with Smith connecting on six of his 10 attempts in those contests.

» Senior Lewis Jackson's 3.0 assist-to-turnover ratio in Big Ten games is the best in the conference heading into the weekend; Jackson has compiled 12 assists without committing a turnover in Purdue's last two games.

» Purdue has led in bench points in 19 of its 25 games this year; the Boilermaker reserves have averaged 24.8 points on 45.7 percent shooting in Purdue's first 12 conference games.

» Junior D.J. Byrd is Purdue's second-leading scorer in conference action with an average of 12.1 points per outing; he is coming off of back-to-back 20-point games and shooting 50.0 percent from the three-point line in Big Ten action.

» Byrd has connected on 13 of his last 24 three-point field goal attempts (.542); he ranks second in the Big Ten in three-point field goals per game in league play (2.6) and ranks third in three-point field goal percentage in B1G action (.500).

» Hummel and Jackson have combined to shoot 84.9 percent (45-of-53) from the line over Purdue's last seventh games; Hummel ranks sixth (.827) in the Big Ten in free throw percentage in league games.

» Barlow has scored in double digits in Purdue's last three games, averaging 12.0 points per game in that stretch.