Time: 10:30 p.m. ET

Date: Saturday, Dec. 22

Place: Orleans Arena (capacity 7,000)

TV: JumpTV.com will air the game. Fans can log on to www.lasvegasclassiconlinetv.com. The games are $7.95 each or $17.95 for the entire tournament.

Radio: Purdue Radio Network (play-by-play Larry Clisby, color commentary Elliot Bloom, Rob Blackman handles the pregame show); the flagship station is WSHP 95.7 FM "The Rocket" in Lafayette.

Series: Purdue leads 2-1.

Did You Know?: The Boilermakers only lost back-to-back games (at Wisconsin and at Michigan on Jan. 17 and Jan. 20, respectively) once last season something they'll try to avoid accomplishing tonight.

The Boilermakers will be looking to rebound after a stunning 69-66 home loss to Wofford Wednesday.

Purdue was its own worst enemy in the game, shooting a mere 18.8 percent from three-point range and 55 percent from the free throw line.

The defeat dropped Purdue to 7-3 on the season.

The Cyclones come into tonight's action with a 6-4 record after a 79-55 home win over Texas Southern Wednesday. In that game, ISU hit 18-of-19 free throws and 62 of its points were scored by its frontcourt.

Iowa State has won four of its last five.

After Purdue faces Iowa State, it will be back in action Sunday when it battles either Alabama or Missouri State. That game is also part of the Las Vegas Classic, will tip at either 8 p.m. or 10:30 p.m. ET. It too will be shown on www.lasvegasclassiconlinetv.com. The winner of the Purdue-Iowa State game will face the winner of the Alabama-Missouri State contest at 10:30 p.m., while the losers will be pitted together at 8 p.m.

• In 10 games this season, Purdue has had seven different leading scorers.

• Coach Matt Painter has used the same starting lineup for six straight games.

• Iowa State beat second-ranked Purdue, 104-96 Nov. 24, 1987 in Mackey Arena. It was the first time the Cyclones defeated a team ranked in the nation's top-two on the road.

• Purdue beat Iowa State in the last two meetings between the two schools, which were both played on neutral sites.

Boilermaker assistant coach Cuonzo Martin was the hero of the 88-87 overtime win Nov. 27, 1994, in Hilo, Hawaii. He poured in 29 points, hitting a three-pointer with under a minute left and sinking a pair of free throws with three seconds remaining to solidify the victory.

Purdue's other win was 79-60 Dec. 28, 1995 in Bayamon, Puerto, Rico.

• Painter was an assistant coach at SIU when the Salukis defeated ISU 66-57 Nov. 22, 2001, which happened to be the last time the Cyclones played in Las Vegas.

• Purdue is 31-25 all-time against teams from the Big 12 after losing to Missouri (73-63) earlier this season.

• The Sporting News picks Iowa State to finish in last place in the 12-team Big 12.

• Purdue will be the third Big Ten team Iowa State has faced this season.

The Cyclones beat Iowa at home 56-47 and lost at home to Minnesota 68-58.

• Iowa State also lost to Bradley, 65-56, in Peoria, Northern Iowa, 61-48, at home and at Drake, 79-44.

• Iowa State is shooting just 28.1 percent from three-point territory.

• Cyclone junior guard Sean Haluska's brother is Adam Haluska, who was an All-Big Ten guard at Iowa in 2006-07 and is now a rookie with the New Orleans Hornets.

Haluska led the Big Ten in scoring last year, averaging 20.5 points per game en route to first-team all-league honors.

• ISU freshman guard Charles Boozer is the younger brother of Utah Jazz standout Carlos Boozer, who starred at Duke.

• Iowa State is without last season's team MVP — Mike Taylor. He had three run-ins with the police, including an arrest, and didn't follow second-year coach Greg McDermott and the school's "conduct code." As a result, Taylor, who averaged 16.0 points and 4.5 assists last season, was dismissed from the program.

• Iowa State men's basketball trainer Vic Miller is a 1993 Purdue graduate and was a student assistant trainer for former Boilermaker coach Gene Keady. He was a student trainer when Painter played for Keady.

• The Cyclones went 15-16 overall, 6-10 in the Big 12 last season.

• F/C: 25 JaJuan Johnson — 6-10, 210, Fr.

• G/F: 4 Robbie Hummel — 6-8, 208, Fr.

• G/F: 14 Scott Martin — 6-8, 200, Fr.

• G: 5 Keaton Grant — 6-4, 207, So.

• G: 33 E'Twaun Moore — 6-3, 180, Fr.

• C: 33 Jiri Hubalek — 6-11, 240 Sr.

• F: 21 Craig Brackins — 6-10, 230, Fr.

• F: 13 Rahshon Clark — 6-6, 210, Sr.

• G: 4 Wesley Johnson — 6-7, 210, So.

• G: 22 Bryan Petersen — 6-1, 180, Jr.

• Grant continues to have a hot hand for the Boilermakers as he's averaging 13.6 points per game in the last four games. He paced the Boilermakers with 17 points against Wofford.

Grant has hit 50 percent (11-of-22) of his three-pointers in the last four games.

• Moore is third on the team in scoring, averaging 10.1 points (Martin leads the Boilermakers averaging 10.1 points, while Grant is second at 10.2).

Moore is hitting 41.7 of his treys this season.

• Leading the way for ISU is Brackins, who is averaging 12.5 points per game.

• Hubalek is coming off a monster game with a career-high 27 points and a career-high 15 rebounds against Texas Southern.

• Johnson was one of the Big 12's top surprise newcomers last season, averaging 12.3 points and 7.9 rebounds. His 244 rebounds were the sixth-best ever by a Big 12 rookie.

Iowa State outrecruited Indiana and Pittsburgh to land Johnson.

Plenty is on the line for the Boilermakers after their loss to Wofford.

Purdue can ill-afford to lose any of its three remaining nonconference games.

If it does, it will likely be on the bubble, at best, for the NCAA Tournament for the entire Big Ten season.

There's no margin for error now.

• How does Purdue respond after the disheartening loss to Wofford? If younger kids/younger teams have short-term memories, as some say, the Boilermakers should be in good shape.

• This will be the biggest frontline Purdue has faced this season. How will the Boilermakers handle Iowa State's 6-foot-11 Hubalek and the 6-10 Brackins?

• Can Purdue establish a low-post presence or will that continue to plague this team throughout the rest of the season?

• The Boilermakers have been woeful from three-point territory, shooting 31.8 percent. Will they continue to struggle from the outside?

• When Hummel is out of the game, Purdue's offense goes south and usually so does its defense. Will that trend continue?

• Dribble penetration, dribble penetration, dribble penetration. Will Purdue ever stop it and will the Boilermakers ever have someone slide over to take a charge when one of their teammates is beaten off the dribble?

• FREE THROW SHOOTING! Can it get any worse for Purdue, which is shooting 67.3 percent from the charity stripe (sixth in the Big Ten), including 46-of-73 in the last three games (63 percent)?

• Can Purdue exploit Iowa States youth and inexperience in the backcourt as the Cyclones entered the season with just two guards with any Division I experience and they were former walk-ons?

I'm very unsure about this game after what I witnessed on Wednesday night.

The loss to Wofford was one of, if not the worst nonconference defeat a Purdue team has suffered that I can remember.

Expect a low-scoring affair in this one. Iowa State averages 61.7 points (but has averaged 79.5 points in its last two outings), while Purdue is averaging 68.7. Both teams do a good job on the defensive end, too —Purdue is permitting opponents to shooting 42.3 percent from the floor, while Iowa State's foes are shooting 37.9 percent.

I'm going to go with the Boilermakers, but it's not a very confident pick to say the least.

LAST PICK: Purdue 68, Wofford 52 (actual score Wofford 69-66)

NOTE: Be sure to check GoldandBlack.com for a full report on the game.

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