Time: 7 p.m. ET

Date: Tuesday Feb. 3

Place: Value City Arena (capacity 19,049)

TV: The game will be televised by ESPN (Dave O'Brien play-by-play, Steve Lavin analyst).

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

Series: The series is tied at 79 as Purdue has lost nine of the last 10 meetings.

Did You Know?: The Boilermakers have never won in Ohio State's Value City Arena in eight tries.

Purdue the best in the country when it comes to field goal percentage defense, but that will be put to the test tonight when the Boilermakers face the Big Ten's best shooting team in the Ohio State Buckeyes.

"They're a great shooting team," said Coach Matt Painter about the Buckeyes. "They're very talented, have athleticism, skill and size. They do a great job defensively with their zone and tilting it and doing different things with it to make you adjust.

"We have to do a good job on their shooters, but we also have to do a good job on the interior and not let those guys get the ball deep in the paint and we have to keep them off the glass.

"Ohio State is a very good team and has a lot of weapons," Painter added.

Thanks to its current six-game winning streak Purdue finds itself tied in the loss column with Michigan State for first place in the Big Ten.

The Boilermakers improved to 17-4 overall, 6-2 in the Big Ten thanks to a 67-49 win Saturday over visiting Michigan.

Ohio State has won back-to-back league games to up its record to 15-5, 5-4.

The Buckeyes are coming off a 93-81 win Saturday at Indiana.

One of Purdue's top concerns will be keeping tabs on Buckeye sophomore guard/forward Evan Turner.

"It's a huge concern for us as a staff," said Painter of Turner. "Last year Jamar Butler had an unbelievable second half and overtime against us, but it was Turner down the stretch that made some key plays. We had a tough time keeping him in front of us. We had a tough time from keeping him attacking the rim off the bounce. We have to do a better job on Turner.

"He's really worked on his game. He has great athleticism. He has a great knack for scoring. He crashes the glass. He makes intermediate shots and makes tough shots. You can just see he likes to play because he's got that competitive fire to him. He's a tough matchup."

After the Ohio State game, the Boilermakers will play yet another game on the road as they face No. 23 Illinois (18-4, 6-3) at 1 p.m. Sunday in Champaign. That game will be televised by CBS.

• Purdue has a winning record against every Big Ten school except Ohio State. Entering tonight's game the all-time series is tied.

• Last year Purdue and Ohio State split their two meetings.

The Boilermakers won 75-68 Jan. 12, 2008, in West Lafayette, but fell 80-77 in overtime March 4, 2008, in Columbus.

The loss in Columbus ended up costing Purdue a share of the Big Ten championship with Wisconsin.

Marcus Green led Purdue in scoring in Mackey with 22 points, hitting 9-of-12 shots. E'Twaun Moore paced the Boilermakers with 16 points in Value City Arena.

Ohio State guard Jamar Butler absolutely killed Purdue, averaging 25.5 points in the two contests.

• If the Boilermakers hold their opponent to 64 points or less in a game, they're 17-0. When the opponent scores 65 or more, they're 0-4.

• Following is a look at where Purdue ranks in the Big Ten in some statistical categories (conference games only):

Scoring Offense 3rd (66.9)

Scoring Margin 1st (+7.1)

Scoring Defense 2nd (59.8)

Free Throw % 8th (69.8)

Field Goal % 2nd (46.1)

Field Goal % Defense 1st (37.3)

Rebounding Margin 3rd (+3.4)

Turnover Margin 8th (-1.75)

• This season Purdue is 11-2 in Mackey, 4-1 on the road and 2-1 in games played at a neutral site.

• Painter is in his fourth year at Purdue and has a 73-44 overall record at his alma mater, including 33-25 in the Big Ten. He is 98-49 in five seasons as a collegiate head coach.

Painter is 1-6 against the Buckeyes.

• Ohio State coach Thad Matta is 116-40 overall, 50-25 in the Big Ten in his fifth season in Columbus.

In nine seasons as a collegiate head coach, Matta is 218-71.

Matta is 7-1 against the Boilermakers.

• The Buckeyes miss junior guard/forward David Lighty, who is out with a broken bone in his left foot.

• Ohio State ranks second in the Big Ten in scoring (67.6 points per game in league games only), first in field goal percentage (49.8), ninth in free throw percentage (69.6) and first in three-point percentage (42.5).

Defensively the Buckeyes are allowing 65.7 points per game (ninth in the Big Ten) as teams are shooting 42.3 percent from the floor (fourth), including 38.2 percent from three-point territory (ninth).

Ohio State is 10th in rebounding margin (-4.2) and sixth in turnover margin (+0.11).

• In the Sporting News preseason magazine, Ohio State was picked to finish fourth in the Big Ten.

• F: 25 JaJuan Johnson — 6-10, 215, So., 12.5 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 0.8 apg, 55.9% FG, 0.0% 3PT, 68.9% FT

• F: 4 Robbie Hummel — 6-8, 212, So., 12.9 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 2.2 apg, 45.9% FG, 40.9% 3PT, 84.6% FT

• G: 33 E'Twaun Moore — 6-3, 180, So., 14.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 3.0 apg, 42.6% FG, 35.2% 3PT, 80.6% FT

• G: 5 Keaton Grant — 6-4, 208, Jr., 7.9 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 2.1 apg, 35.4% FG, 33.7% 3PT, 70.7% FT

• G: 3 Chris Kramer — 6-3, 207, Jr., 4.6 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 2.4 apg, 44.6% FG, 30.0% 3PT, 77.1% FT

• F: 52 Dallas Lauderdale — 6-8, 255, So., 5.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 0.4 apg, 68.3% FG, 0.0% 3PT, 44.9% FT

• G: 2 Jeremie Simmons — 6-2, 170, Jr., 8.1 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 3.3 apg, 36.6% FG, 36.0% 3PT, 75.6 % FT

• G/F: 21 Evan Turner — 6-7, 205, So., 16.6 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 3.1 apg, 51.7% FG, 50.0% 3PT, 78.2% FT

• G: 33 Jon Diebler – 6-6, 205, So., 11.0 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 2.6 apg, 43.1% FG, 41.7% 3PT, 74.4% FT

• G: 44 William Buford — 6-5, 190, Fr., 11.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 1.2 apg, 45.1% FG, 35.9% 3PT, 91.7% FT

• Moore is really getting it done for the Boilermakers. He's not forcing nearly as many shots and it shows.

In the last three games, he's averaging nearly 17 points and shooting 54.5 percent from the floor.

Moore is the ninth-leading scorer in the Big Ten, averaging 14.1 points (in conference games only).

• Purdue will need Johnson's presence inside. He's among the top 20 in the Big Ten in scoring (16th), rebounding (third), shooting (fourth, 53.8 percent) and blocked shots (first, averaging 2.88 per game).

• Naturally Hummel and Kramer are critical to Purdue's success.

Against Michigan, Hummel appeared to be as bothered by his back as he's been in a while.

Of course it will be interesting to see how Kramer plays another game with that mask on after breaking his nose early in the second half of the Michigan game.

• Turner is the reigning Big Ten Player-of-the-Week after scoring a career-high 29 points to go along with 10 rebounds against the Hoosiers.

Against Michigan a few days prior, Turner poured in 24 points.

In his last two games, Turner shot 70 percent from the floor (16-of-23) and 91 percent from the free throw line (21-of-23).

• Buford is only a freshman, but he's the team's second-leading scorer.

• Diebler is second in the league in three-point shooting.

• Buckeye freshman B.J. Mullens, a 7-footer, who was a McDonald's All-American, leads the Big Ten in field goal percentage at 60.7 percent.

It seems as though there's more at stake for the Boilermakers every time they take the court. The main reason for that is what has transpired during Purdue's six-game winning streak.

Who would've thought Northwestern could beat Michigan State in the Breslin Center and then watch the Spartans lose their second straight home game — to Penn State on Sunday?

As a result, Purdue is dead even with MSU in the loss column and hits the halfway mark of the Big Ten regular season tonight.

Needless to say a win in Columbus would be huge to the Boilermakers' chances at a league title.

• Can the Boilermakers continue winning at way less than 100 percent?

• Will Purdue have an answer for Turner?

• The last two games have taken their toll on Purdue injury wise so will they exit the Ohio State game unscathed?

• With Lewis Jackson being cleared to play, how effective will he be when he's in the lineup?

• Will Johnson and Grant begin to look more like themselves after battling flu bugs for about a week?

• Ohio State will have a decided size advantage so will Purdue be able to limit the Buckeyes' second-chance opportunities?

• How well will Purdue defend the three-point arc, especially considering Diebler is deadly from long range?

• In the Boilermakers' last three road games — all victories — they've hit timely three-pointers. Will that trend continue?

Purdue has plenty of motivation to win in Value City Arena for the first time.

All the Boilermakers have to do is remember what happened in Columbus last season and just how costly a loss it was.

If Purdue holds its own in the rebounding department and does its usual good job on the defensive end making it tough for the Buckeyes to get open looks, the Boilermakers will leave town with a huge W.

The Boilermakers could have a pretty big offensive night because Ohio State's defense can leave a lot to be desired. If the visitors are connecting from the outside, this one could turn out to be a double-digit Purdue win.

LAST PICK: Purdue 73, Michigan 58 (actual score Purdue 67-49)

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

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