No.16 Wisconsin (19-5, 9-4 Big Ten) vs. No.7 Purdue (19-6, 11-3 Big Ten)

Date/Time – Saturday, February 15, 12 p.m.

Arena – Mackey Arena (14,876)

Watch – CBS (Ian Eagle and Bill Raftery)

Radio – Badgers Radio Network (Matt Lepay and Brian Butch), Sirius 85 or 390, stream online on iHeartRadio.

Series – Purdue leads 114-75 (Purdue leads 54-31 in West Lafayette, Ind.)

Last Meeting - Wisconsin won, 76-75, in overtime on March 16, 2024, in Minneapolis

Follow Online: The Badgers' Den

Twitter: @Badger_Blitz

Betting line: Purdue – 5.5

Player to Watch: Blackwell is emerging as one of the Big Ten's most well-rounded players, ranking second on the Badgers in points, fourth in rebounds and third in assists. His averages rise to 16.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg and 1.9 apg during Big Ten play.

Player to watch: Kaufman-Renn is the only player nationally to average 18.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and shoots at least 60 percent from the field. Only three other players in Big Ten history have done that (Zach Edey - 2024; Evan Eschmeyer - 1998; Chris Webber - 1993).

The two teams are 4-4 in their last eight games in the series, with the eight games decided by a total of 33 points.

This will mark the fifth time in the last five seasons that Purdue and Wisconsin enter the game nationally ranked, both teams winning twice. During the Matt Painter era, both teams have been ranked in 10 previous meetings with Purdue holding a 6-4 advantage.

This is the ninth time Wisconsin will face a top-10 Purdue team since 2018. The Badgers have won 4 of the last 8 games when the Boilermakers are ranked in the top 10.

Wisconsin is just 5-43 all-time against Purdue in Mackey Arena, but four of those wins have come since 2005. UW’s lone win in Mackey Arena before Bo Ryan’s arrival was in 1972.

Wisconsin's last win at Mackey Arena came in 2022 when the Badgers knocked off No. 3 Purdue, 74-69. Johnny Davis led the Badgers with 37 points.

The Badgers did win a 2021 NCAA tournament game in Mackey Arena, knocking off North Carolina, 85-62, as part of the Covid bubble.

When Purdue reaches 70 points against Wisconsin in regulation games under Matt Painter, the Boilermakers are 10-1. When held under 70 points, Purdue is 8-12.

Wisconsin is one away from its 10th Big Ten win. The Badgers have won 10+ in 20 of the last 23 seasons, more than any other school.

In the last 10 years, Wisconsin has tallied 13 wins over AP top-10 teams, including six coming away from home. Badgers are 1-1 in such games this season.

The Badgers are 12-5 in Quad 1/2 games with 6 Quad 1 wins and zero losses outside of Quad 1. UW is 1 of 6 schools with 12+ Q1/2 wins.

Wisconsin leads the Big Ten in both three-point field goal percentage (39.5%) and three-point field goals per game (11.3) during conference play.

Dating back to last season, Wisconsin is 30-1 in games when holding foes to 70 or fewer points (14-1 this year). The Badgers rank third in the B1G allowing 69.9 ppg during conference play.

Since the turn of the calendar to January, Purdue ranks No. 2 nationally in efficiency (.9728) behind Houston (.9833) via BartTorvik.com. The Boilermakers are sixth in offensive efficiency (125.7) and eighth in defensive efficiency (92.1) during that span.

Since the insertion of Furst and Cox into the lineup 11 games ago, Purdue has averaged just 9.4 turnovers per game while forcing 14.9 (+5.50 margin). Since January 1, Purdue's defensive turnover rate is 22.2 percent (15th). Through December, the rate was 16.8 percent (228th).

Purdue's offense has clicked in Big Ten play, shooting at least 50.0 percent from the field in 10 contests. Purdue leads the Big Ten in field goal percentage, steals per game and opponent turnovers per game, while ranking second in both scoring offense and defense.

Over the last eight games, Purdue is just 44-of-142 (.310) from 3-point range. If you throw out a 12-of-25 (.480) performance against Iowa, the Boilermakers are 32-of-117 (.274) in the other seven games. Remarkably, Purdue still owns a 124.3 offensive efficiency during that span -- a number that ranks eighth nationally.

Purdue is 160-15 under Painter when winning both the rebound and turnover battles. On the flipside, Purdue is 6-51 when losing both the rebound and turnover battles.

There have been few occasions when Wisconsin’s trip home from Mackey Arena has been pleasant. Since 2014, the Badgers have beaten Purdue once in the building. That’s not bad in a historical sense, considering Wisconsin's overall record at the venue, but the arena’s reputation for being loud and intimidating rubbed off on Blackwell.

“It’s honestly a blessing that we are even in this position going into this game,” he said. “Mackey is one of my favorite places to play. I love the arena. They have a well-coached team, a good group … It’s going to be a fun matchup.”

Blackwell played well during his first trip to Mackey Arena, scoring a team-high 18 points off the bench with four rebounds and a steal last season. UW went 5-for-24 from three-point range and lost, 78-70, to the outright Big Ten champions but knocked off No.3 Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals six days later.

“The environment there is different,” Blackwell said of Mackey. “It feels louder in there when you get under the basket. When you miss two free throws in a row, they get chicken nuggets or something. It’s just a fun place to play. I like what they do there.”

Mackey Arena is tough because the Boilermakers typically have good teams. It doesn’t work, according to head coach Greg Gard, for a bad team to have a good fan environment. This Purdue team is no exception with how they have evolved with the loss of All-American Zach Edey to become more balanced.

Braden Smith is on pace to become the first player since California's Jason Kidd (1993-94) to average 16.0 points, 8.0 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game. He leads the league in assists and steals, which hasn’t been done in the league since Mike Conley in 2007 at Ohio State.

Smith can hurt teams off the ball, off of set plays, and off of ball screens, as defenses who have gone against him haven’t been able to lock into him.

“He puts pressure on you in a variety of ways,” Gard said of Smith. “He shoots a lot of mid-range but he makes a lot of them. He’s really good along the baseline if he gets there … He’s really smart, savvy, and competitive as heck.”

If Smith is former Utah Jazz point guard John Stockton, then Kaufman-Renn is Karl Malone. Since January 1, Kaufman-Renn has averaged 19.8 points per game, good for third in the Big Ten behind Minnesota's Dawson Garcia (20.5) and Rutgers' Ace Bailey (19.9).

Throw in three-point shooter Loyer at guard (51-for-113 on 3s) and that trio has averaged 57.6 points per game over the last five games, accounting for 67.8 percent of Purdue's scoring in that span. On Tuesday, they scored 61 of Purdue’s 75 points.

With post presence and three-point shooters, it’s not surprising that Purdue and Wisconsin are separated by 0.4 points in adjusted offensive efficiency. Throw in the fact that the Boilermakers are only one point better in adjusted defensive efficiency and these two teams are close to clones.

It’s one of the reasons why I think this game will be competitive, and it wouldn’t surprise me if Wisconsin won. However, Mackey is a tough place to win, and it's even tougher when Purdue has a good team like it does this year. UW needs to play close to a perfect game to win, which it hasn’t done in the last few weeks.

Worgull’s Prediction: Purdue by 8

Record: 20-4 (19-5 ATS)

Points off Prediction: 178 (7.4 per game)

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