Wisconsin is set to travel to the hostile Mackey Arena for a Saturday showdown with No. 7 Purdue. The Badgers are coming off their longest break since Christmas, while the Boilermakers will assuredly be a scrappy foe coming off a loss at Michigan.

Below, BadgerBlitz.com breaks down the key statistics and trends that will dictate the game in West Lafayette.

Writers note: Many stats in this article are courtesy of KenPom.com.

Mackey Arena is one of the most infamous venues in the Big Ten and the entire country. It has a reputation as a powder keg of an arena, and in recent seasons, it's been nearly impossible to win there on the road. Since the 2022-2023 campaign, only Ohio State (this season) and Rutgers and Indiana (in 2022-2023) have escaped Mackey with a victory. The combined point differential in those games? 12. One does not simply walk into Mackey.

Braden Smith has always been a talented facilitator, but he's taken his game to another level this season. Ever since Purdue shockingly lost to Penn State to open Big Ten play, he's been a more assertive scorer, averaging 15.1 shots-per-game. Still, he should be considered a pass-first point guard, as he's always looking to facilitate and is especially dangerous from a playmaking standpoint in transition. Wisconsin will need to deploy its best on-ball defenders against Smith — he should expect plenty of John Blackwell and Kamari McGee.

That's the 17th-highest percentage in the country. Only three power conference teams (BYU, Creighton and Louisville) shoot a higher percentage of threes. By contrast, Purdue is one of the best teams in the nation in defending the three ball, allowing opponents to shoot just 30.4 percent from downtown. Something has to give here, and this will certainly be a point of emphasis for the Boilermakers after they struggled to close out on some Wolverines' shooters in their most recent loss.

That makes the Boilermakers easily the best offensive team Wisconsin has played. The next closest? Illinois at No. 14, whom the Badgers lost to 86-80 earlier this season. Now, Wisconsin boasts the 10th-best adjusted offensive efficiency, so this is certainly setting up to be a shootout. The Badgers can't bring a knife to a gunfight; the modernized offense driving Wisconsin's resurgence needs to show up humming Saturday.

Not surprising for one of the top offenses in the nation, but Purdue shoots threes with lethal efficiency. While Wisconsin relies more heavily on the three ball, the Boilermakers shoot it less (37.3 percent of their field goal attempts are threes), but are more efficient when they do let it fly from long range. Smith, the point guard, hits 39.2 percent of his shots from downtown. CJ Cox, the shooting guard, cans 41.7 percent of his threes. And the wing, Fletcher Loyer? 45.1 percent.

Purdue's front court is a lot less imposing without Zach Edey, but it's still plenty talented with Trey Kaufman-Renn and Caleb Furst. The junior Kaufman-Renn might be the most improved player in the conference from this season to last, going from an average of 6.4 points last year to now averaging 19.0 points this season. Furst, meanwhile, has been a starter since the Calendar flipped to 2025 and is the tallest (healthy) player on Purdue's roster at 6-foot-10.

Both players fouled out in the Boilermakers' loss to Michigan, however, the first time that's happened to Furst and the second such occurrence for Kaufmen-Renn this season. That left the paint vulnerable in crunch time against Michigan's two dynamic big men, and the lack of a strong interior presence ultimately doomed the Boilermakers when nobody boxed out on the Wolverines' put-back dunk that proved to be the dagger. Guard play will get plenty of attention in this one between Smith, Loyer, Blackwell and John Tonje, but the battle down low will also be key.

That's good for 28th-best in the nation. The Boilermakers move the ball efficiently and for the most part, do a good job taking care of it. But in a handful of their losses, turnovers have been a major issue. In a loss to Texas A&M, the Boilermakers turned it over 16 times. How did Purdue lose to the current worst team in the conference, Penn State? Try a whopping 24 turnovers.

Wisconsin, therefore, must play aggressive defense. The Badgers lack a pure pickpocket like they had when Chucky Hepburn ran point in Madison, but Max Klesmit (1.0 steals per-game) and Kamari McGee (0.9 steals-per-game) likely have the best hands on defense for Wisconsin.

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