Date: Saturday, Feb. 15, 2020

Time: 12 p.m. ET

Venue: Value City Arena (Columbus, Ohio)

TV: FOX

Radio: Purdue Radio Network

Purdue Particulars: Roster | Schedule | Statistics

More: Purdue primer and GoldandBlack.com coverage

Ohio State Particulars: Roster | Schedule | Statistics

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Coming off a rare and one-sided home loss to No. 13 Penn State, Purdue gets its next two on the road as it looks to earn its place in the NCAA Tournament, starting with Ohio State.

The Buckeyes need this game, too, though.

At one point this season, the Buckeyes were 11-1 with wins over Cincinnati, Villanova, North Carolina, Penn State and Kentucky. Now, they're 16-8, a game below .500 in the Big Ten, adjusting to life without star freshman D.J. Carton, and playing to make sure they don't somehow slip onto the Bubble.

• Purdue's coming off Tuesday night's loss to 13th-ranked Penn State in Mackey Arena, which snapped a three-game winning streak.

Last time out on the road, though, Purdue was impressive in a comfortable win at rival Indiana, which players have attributed in part to a higher level of focus, concentration and cohesiveness. Whether that sort of thing was a product of the environment at IU or a new normal for the Boilermakers remains to be seen as these trips to Ohio State then Wisconsin play out.

• Isaiah Thompson's 15 points vs. Penn State were his second-most of the season (behind 17 vs. Chicago State) and the continuation of his increased productivity as his freshman season winds down. Thompson's made at least one three in eight of the past 10 games. He's shooting about 37 percent from three-point range in Big Ten play.

He's also been part of a collective effort among the Boilermakers' guards to generate quick and easier offense by pushing the ball up the floor aggressively and getting out in transition.

• Senior Jahaad Proctor is Purdue's leading three-point shooter in Big Ten games, at 40.6 percent. Evan Boudreaux is close behind at 40 percent.

Proctor is 9-of-15 from three the past six games.

• Purdue shoots only 64.5 percent at the foul line in conference games — second worst In the league — as its highest-volume shooter, Trevion Williams, sits at 45.7 percent.

Williams is leading the Boilermakers in scoring (13.2) and rebounding (8.4) in Big Ten games.

• This game is dripping with Butler influence, as Ohio State's came from Butler — Chris Holtmann succeeded Brad Stevens' successor there — and former Stevens assistant coach Micah Shrewsberry is Purdue's associate head coach. Shrewsberry and Buckeye assistant coach Terry Johnson worked together at Butler.

Ohio State Particulars: Roster | Schedule | Statistics

• Ohio State is again built around big man Kaleb Wesson, only he's now a very different Kaleb Wesson.

The junior big man has improved his body considerably and shown a vastly more diverse skill set.

Always a big, wide-bodied low-post threat, Wesson is shooting 41.7 percent on 48 three-point attempts this Big Ten season, which may create a whole different set of challenges for Purdue defensively.

Wesson averages 15 points and 9.6 rebounds in Big Ten play.

• The Buckeyes have played the past few weeks without star freshman D.J. Carton, who's taken a leave from the team in order to concentrate on his own mental health, per his announcement at the time.

Carton, who indicated plans to return to the Buckeyes in time, was averaging 10.4 points for the season and was one of the Big Ten's top newcomers.

• Ohio State is the leading three-point shooting team in the conference by a wide margin, shooting 36.8 percent in Big Ten play. Only Nebraska has attempted more triples than the Buckeyes, who get a third of their scoring from behind the arc.

The absence of Carton (42.9 percent) has taken one significant weapon away, but plenty remain, including forward Andre Wesson at 47.9 percent (and increasingly less reliant on the backboard to make them, for Purdue fans who may still be bitter) and Kaleb Wesson.

Duane Washington is the Buckeyes' second leading active scorer at 10.7 percent and is a better shooter than his 32.1-percent success rate.

• Guard C.J. Walker was committed to Purdue out of high school in the Class of 2016.

His subsequent decommitment — he ultimately signed with Florida State — famously opened the door for Purdue to sign eventual All-American Carsen Edwards.

Walker, a junior, averages 7.2 points in his first season playing for the Buckeyes, but on just 33-percent shooting. He is Ohio State's assists leader.

• Ohio State is 23rd nationally in defensive efficiency per KenPom, top-25 in effective field goal percentage (45 percent) and fourth nationally in two-point field goal percentage (41.4).

Ohio State can defend and make threes and has been pretty solid at home. Purdue may have turned a corner with its win at Indiana in terms of its capability to win games like this, but expecting it from here on out, Purdue probably has to show more before that's justifiable. The Penn State game wasn't pretty and should have the Boilermakers on edge, as Matt Painter would say, but Ohio State needs this game as much as the visitors do.

GoldandBlack.com Prediction: Ohio State 70, Purdue 67

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