A lot has changed since the last time Purdue took the floor on Tuesday night.

Purdue started its Big Ten Conference play with a loss which means its been trailing in the standings as Michigan State started its conference play with nine straight wins.

But from February 1st to February 4th, Michigan State lost twice, and now Purdue sits a half game ahead in the standings for a conference its won the last two seasons.

Purdue has now won 10 of its last 11 games, is back in the top-10 nationally, and is once again in control of the Big Ten after winning the league by three games the last two seasons. Purdue has games left at Michigan and at Michigan State who are the other two teams with two losses which means Purdue's destiny is in its own hands even if it'll require some big time wins on the road.

USC is at the other end of the Big Ten, looking to hold on to its place in the Big Ten Tournament. USC has a great win at Illinois, and was responsible for one of the two Michigan State losses this last week at home, but it's coming off a loss to a Brooks Barnhizer-less Northwestern team on Tuesday. Now it'll head a little south to take on Mackey Arena for the first time as a Big Ten team.

The two coaches have faced off against each other before, just last season in fact, but that game, at Arkansas, was an exhibition game. Arkansas ended up winning that game in overtime, 81-77.

This will be the one and only matchup between these two teams in the regular season.

Trey Kaufman-Renn enters this game as the only player in the country averaging at least 18 points, 6 rebounds, 2.5 assists per game while averaging 60% or better shooting from the floor. Despite this, Kaufman-Renn, has not been named to the finalist watch list for either the major national power forward or center of the year award.

While TKR's position might be confusing, him being a top-10 big man in the country isn't.

For what it's worth, Kenpom has him as the sixth most efficient player in the country, just behind his point guard Braden Smith who is the third.

Faith hasn't been lost in Purdue's wings off the bench, but there's no arguing that both Colvin and Heide are struggling with their jump shots.

The two have combined to go 3 of 22 on three-point attempts in Purdue's last six games.

Purdue has gotten by with both Colvin and Heide both struggling on the other end, but assistant coach PJ Thompson still believes that Purdue will need Colvin and Heide to get through the rest of the season. He's pushing both players to still be aggressive.

Eric Musselman has a team full of transfers and even two thirds of the way through the season, he's still trying to figure out his rotation.

"They have so many interchangeable pieces," Painter said about USC and the threat they pose on both ends of the floor.

Musselman was forced to go deeper into his bench with Desmond Claude missing last game after playing through an injury and pain the game prior. Even if Claude plays against Purdue, expect Musselman to use his bench.

"He's gone to a lot of different transfers, a lot of different guys," Painter said. "And you're seeing some guys here that haven't played much that are now getting an opportunity that played pretty well last game."