PISCATAWAY, N.J.

Date: Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021

Time: 7 p.m. ET

TV: BTN

Radio: Purdue Radio Network (96.5 WAZY locally)

Schedule | Roster | Stats

• Purdue takes the floor for the first time ever as the No. 1 team in the country — in the AP poll, the coaches poll, and the NET rankings.

• The Boilermakers are looking to sweep their two early December Big Ten games, following their 77-70 win over Iowa on Friday night.

• This is the third of five straight high-major games for Purdue. It started with Florida State and Iowa, and now Rutgers, followed by Sunday's game with N.C. State in Brooklyn, and finally the Crossroads Classic against Butler.

Purdue will stay out east for the N.C. State game and return to West Lafayette afterward.

• This will be Purdue's first true road game in front of a full-capacity crowd since winning at Iowa in March of 2020.

Only four Boilermakers — upperclassmen Trevion Williams, Eric Hunter, Sasha Stefanovic and Isaiah Thompson — have played in a road game with unrestricted capacity.

STARTERS

C — 15 Zach Edey (7-4, 295, So.)

15.5 PPG • 72.3% FG • 81.1 FT • 7.1 REB • 18.4 MIN • 11 BLK

Purdue didn't get Edey established as much as it would have liked against Iowa. Here's another chance. Rutgers is typically highly physical in the post, but depth is a real issue.

F — 3 Caleb Furst (6-10, 230, Fr.)

8.3 PPG • 7.4 RPG • 62.2% FG • 45.5% 3-PT

The glass will be always be important against Rutgers and Furst's been a big addition there for Purdue. It will be interesting how much Furst has to guard Ron Harper Jr. when he plays the 4. That would be tricky.

G —23 Jaden Ivey (6-4, 195, So.)

15.9 PPG • 52.3% FG • 40% 3-PT • 5.8 REB • 3.6 AST • 12 STL

Ivey's been one of the best and most well-rounded players in college basketball this season and has quietly shot pretty well from three-point range this season, answering to this point one of his few questions. Now, true road games.

G — 55 Sasha Stefanovic (6-5, 205, Sr.)

12.3 PPG • 46% 3-PT • 4.5 AST

This trip to Rutgers will be a great test to see whether Purdue can takes its rock-solid shooting on the road with it, starting with Stefanovic. No real reason to think otherwise, but this is Purdue's first real road game in a long time.

G —11 Isaiah Thompson (6-1, 160, Jr.)

7.1 PPG • 58.6% FG • 60.9% 3-PT

Thompson is believed to be fine after bruising his hip during a hard fall against Iowa.

ROTATION

C — 50 Trevion Williams (6-10, 255, Sr.)

12.4 PPG • 59.1% FG • 8.8 REB • 2.5 AST

Williams owes Rutgers one, as the Boilermakers haven't had a whole lot of success against the Scarlet Knights the past couple seasons. Myles Johnson is no longer present in the post, though and Purdue's bigs won't miss him. Don't be surprised to see them get Clifford Omoruyi in foul trouble.

G — 5 Brandon Newman (6-5, 200, So.)

9.3 PPG • 40.5% 3-PT • 93.8% FT

Newman gives Purdue's well-rounded bench another dimension: A scorer capable of changing a game with his shooting. He didn't have his best game against Iowa, but that three he made with about six minutes to go was enormous.

G — 25 Ethan Morton (6-6, 215, So.)

2.3 PPG • 2.0 AST • 50% 3-PT (3-6)

It's a small sample size, but Morton's made half his threes through eight games. On top of his considerable offensive value and versatility, if he can be a reliable catch-and-shoot option when Purdue plays inside-out, that would make him even more valuable.

G — 2 Eric Hunter (6-4, 175, Sr.)

3.6 PPG • 1.9 AST

Hunter was turnover-prone vs. Iowa's backcourt trapping, but that was as much a team-wide problem than the fault of just the guards. It has been an adjustment for Hunter coming off the bench as a senior.

F — 0 Mason Gillis (6-6, 230, So.)

6.0 PPG • 3.0 REB (4 GAMES) • 50% 3-PT (3-6)

Gillis was the difference in the Iowa game, scoring 12 points on just three field goal attempts and coming up with several critical offensive rebounds. He has the potential to be a real spark off the bench, and his value does tend to show up more in Big Ten-style games.

Freshmen Trey Kaufman-Renn and Brian Waddell will redshirt this season. Waddell will miss most of the season after tearing his ACL.

Schedule | Roster | Stats

• The Scarlet Knights are struggling following their breakthrough NCAA Tournament season last year, sitting at 4-4, including a home loss to Lafayette in November and a 35-point loss at Illinois last time out.

Gone from last year's team are center Myles Johnson, guard Jacob Young and wing Montez Mathis, all important contributors and part of the attitude Rutgers has played with In recent years.

Guard Geo Baker came back for an extra COVID season, but he's been sidelined with a hamstring injury and likely won't play against Purdue.

• Star Ron Harper Jr. is back for his senior year and actually has moved to being Rutgers' 4 man, creating an interesting matchup dynamic for this game.

• Rutgers' effective field goal percentage of 43.5 percent is 320nd nationally, per KenPom. (Note: Purdue is first.) The Knights are shooting only 27.7 percent from three-point range, but also just 44.4 percent from two-point range.

• Rutgers is believed to be dealing with a bout with the flu, affecting a number of players.

STARTERS

F - 45 Jaden Jones (6-8, 220, Fr.)

6.3 PPG

C - 11 Clifford Omoruyi (6-11, 240, So.)

11.5 PPG • 7.3 REB • 60.3% FG

F - 24 Ron Harper Jr. (6-6, 245, Sr.)

14.8 PPG • 8.4 RPG • 2.4 AST • 35.7% 3-PT

G - 22 Caleb McConnell (6-7, 200, Sr.)

5.1 PPG • 4.5 RPG • 2.3 AST

G - 4 Paul Mulcahy (6-6, 213, Jr.)

6.9 PPG • 4.9 RPG • 4.1 AST

KEY RESERVES

G - 3 Geo Baker (6-4, 185, Sr.) (D)

11.2 PPG • 4.0 AST • 34.6% 3-PT

F - 3 Mawot Mag (6-8, 225, So.)

11.7 PPG • 6.0 REB • 61.1% 3-PT

F - 35 Ralph Agee (6-8, 245, Sr.)

3.6 PPG • 2.0 RPG

F - 5 Aundre Hyatt (6-6, 227, So.)

6.3 PPG • 3.4 RPG

Stay dialed in to GoldandBlack.com during the game for our pre-game First Thoughts analysis. During the game, follow along with our game thread and follow @brianneubert on Twitter for additional insight.

Following the game, we'll have post-game press conference video, game coverage, analysis, our Wrap Video and Final Thoughts, plus a Gold and Black Radio podcast within a few hours of the end of the game.

Stay tuned.

With Rutgers struggling and battling all sorts of circumstances, this doesn't look like one of Purdue's most treacherous road games to start things off. That doesn't mean the Boilermakers don't have to be sharp. We'd expect them to be following those harrowing moments against Iowa.

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