Date: Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020

Time: 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT

Venue: Mackey Arena (West Lafayette)

TV: BTN

Radio: Purdue Radio Network

Purdue Particulars: Roster | Schedule | Statistics

More: Purdue primer and GoldandBlack.com coverage

Northwestern Particulars: Roster | Schedule | Statistics

GoldandBlack.com in-game updates: @GoldandBlackcom | @brianneubert

Purdue heads to Evanston for the back end of its double-play with Northwestern, after the Wildcats visited Mackey Arena to open Big Ten play back in early December, a 58-44 Boilermaker win that wasn't as one-sided as the final score suggested,, as Purdue was only 5-of-22 from three on its home floor.

The Boilermakers, of course, remain winless on the road in the Big Ten, coming off this week's 70-63 loss at No. 25 Rutgers, but will be a decided favorite against the Wildcats in Evanston nonetheless.

Needless to say, for a Purdue team whose NCAA Tournament-qualification work may be cut out for it at the moment, this meeting with arguably the conference's worst team — Northwestern is 1-9 in the Big Ten and has won just six games this season — this one is important.

• Purdue's 0-5 on the road in conference play. In this games, it has now shot 34.6 percent overall and 21.8 percent from three-point range.

That said, Purdue's 41.0-percent shooting at Rutgers this week — the Big Ten's top field goal percentage defense, by the way — was the Boilermakers' Big Ten season best on the road, a hair better than Its 40.8-percent shooting in the double-overtime loss at Michigan.

• Matt Painter said Friday he'll shuffle Purdue's starting lineup again, meaning the Boilermakers will likely start the game with their sixth different starting five this season.

• Senior Jahaad Proctor is coming off a 19-point game at Rutgers off the bench, a few weeks after he'd begun coming off the bench and playing fewer minutes than he played during the non-conference season. Those 19 points matched his total from the seven Big Ten games played since conference play resumed at the end of December.

Proctor said in Piscataway that a valuable lesson came from his reduced role.

"I didn't think as a basketball player. I thought as Jahaad," Proctor said. "It was, 'Why is this happening? Why me?' But you go through your slumps. ... But when you think as a basketball player, it's, 'What are we doing to win and how am I contributing?'"

• Purdue is the second-lowest scoring team in the conference, averaging 62.8 points in Big Ten play, and 14th in the league in field goal percentage at 38.4 percent.

• Worth noting is that Northwestern was one of the slower-tempo matchups that Purdue's big lineup of Trevion Williams and Matt Haarms playing side by side made sense against. The Boilermakers have moved away from it lately, as Evan Boudreaux has played well; matchups have been less than ideal; and the lineups weren't producing clear advantages anyway, but it might be an option for Purdue again in this one.

Northwestern Particulars: Roster | Schedule | Statistics

• Scoring, typically, has been hard to come by for Northwestern.

Purdue is the second-lowest scoring team in the Big Ten, but Northwestern has been even less productive, the Big Ten's worst offensive team.

The Wildcats average just 61.6 points.

Northwestern's effective field goal percentage of 47.4 ranks 259th nationally, per KenPom, and the Wildcats are an ineffective offensive rebounding team by every measure and don't get to the foul line very often.

• Northwestern's lone win of the Big Ten season to date came 62-57 vs. Nebraska on Jan. 11. Since Big Ten play resumed, it's fallen at home to Iowa by 13, Maryland by 11 and Ohio State (mid-freefall) by 12. It's been a while, but earlier in the season, the Wildcats lost in Welsh-Ryan to Merrimack, Radford and Hartford.

The Wildcats are coming off a 29-point road loss at Michigan State, extending their losing streak to five games.

• Miller Kopp leads Northwestern in scoring in Big Ten play at 13.3 points per game, shooting about 36 percent from three.

Two of Purdue's equally important worries, though, may be forward Pete Nance, who stretched the floor to open the first meeting between these teams and made a couple threes early on, and reserve guard Boo Buie, who's only played in five Big Ten games due to injuries, but has still made the second most threes, behind only Kopp. He's 9-of-20, good for 45 percent.

Call it a must-win game, or a can't-lose game, whatever you want, but Purdue visits Evanston for the second year in a row with no choice but to win. Last year, it was for a Big Ten title; now, to side-step what would be a devastating loss in the game that represents the last bad-loss landmine left on the regular-season slate.

Purdue has to play its way into the NCAA Tournament from here on out. If it loses Saturday, that climb may become too steep. Purdue is better than Northwestern and there are few matchup concerns to worry about in this one, but the pressure is on the Boilermakers and their track record away from home not so good.

GoldandBlack.com Prediction: Purdue 66, Northwestern 59

Membership Info: Sign up for GoldandBlack.com now | Why join? | Questions?

Follow GoldandBlack.com: Twitter | Facebook | YouTube

More: Gold and Black Illustrated/Gold and Black Express | Subscribe to our podcast

Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2019. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited.