In a game that all of a sudden has become a pivotal one for both teams, No. 5 Purdue hosts Rutgers, the Scarlet Knights being one of the hottest teams in the country, having won four straight games over ranked Big Ten teams.

Purdue's looking to hold on to first place In the Big Ten; Rutgers is looking to move closer to it.

Date: Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022

Time: 5:30 p.m. ET

TV: FS1

Radio: Purdue Radio Network (96.5 WAZY locally)

Schedule | Roster | Stats

• The Boilermakers still rank as the most efficient offensive team in college basketball, but have averaged just 63.3 points the past three games, the last two of which were low-scoring games Purdue won, which was new.

• Purdue enjoyed its first day off in more than three weeks on Thursday.

• Purdue's dropped its last four meetings with Rutgers, including a 70-68 loss in Piscataway on Dec. 9, won at the buzzer by Ron Harper's heave from just inside the halfcourt line. Harper scored 30 that night.

• Purdue was revealed as a No. 2 seed and the No. 7 overall seed on Saturday during the NCAA's initial bracket reveal.

STARTERS

C — 15 Zach Edey (7-4, 295, So.)

14.4 PPG • 67.8% FG • 7.6 REB

Physicality is always a key element to beating Rutgers, and the Scarlet Knights may see a different version of Zach Edey this time around than they did in December. During that early portion of the season, Edey wasn't getting off to great starts to games, an area he's made real progress in through the course of the season, despite not always getting the help from the officials Purdue would prefer.

F — 0 Mason Gillis (6-6, 230, So.)

6.8 PPG • 4.4 REB • 52.6% FG • 46.9% 3-PT • 85.7% FT

Gillis shook off a two-game shooting slump to make three threes in the second half at Northwestern, so he seems to be back in that regard. These are the sorts of physical games where his tenacity and will matter more, but also, if Ron Harper plays, there are mismatches for the Boilermakers at the 4 spot.

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

11.6 PPG • 40.5% 3-PT • 3.4 AST

Rutgers isn't going to make it easy for Stefanovic to get shots, but his ability to get open and knock a few down could be one of the real determining factors in the outcome of this game. As he goes, so often Purdue goes.

G — 2 Eric Hunter (6-4, 175, Sr.)

5.5 PPG • 1.7 AST • 49.1% FG • 44.7% 3-PT

One of the biggest differences between Purdue now and Purdue back in December has been Hunter's play lately.

G —23 Jaden Ivey (6-4, 195, So.) (?)

17.0 PPG • 46.4% FG • 38.4% 3-PT • 5.0 REB • 3.1 AST

Ivey's coming off his two worst games of the season, just 4-of-21 from the floor between the Maryland and Northwestern wins, suggesting he needed last week's day off more than anyone. He says he's energized now and Purdue will sure hope so.

ROTATION

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

12.0 PPG • 55.3% FG • 7.6 REB • 3.1 AST

Williams went for 21 and 11 rebounds in just 23 minutes last time against Rutgers and made what should have been the game-winner.

G —11 Isaiah Thompson (6-1, 160, Jr.)

5.2 PPG • 42.5% 3-PT

Thompson splashed a couple of first-half threes at Northwestern that buoyed Purdue offensively. It was as Impactful a stretch as he's had since the game at Iowa, and before that, the non-conference season. He didn't score against Rutgers last time, but did have what would have been a pivotal three from the corner rim out.

G — 25 Ethan Morton (6-6, 215, So.)

2.8 PPG • 1.7 AST • 51% FG • 48% 3-PT

Morton got put in a tough spot in the first game at Rutgers, pressed into duty as the primary defender on Ron Harper Jr. He did fine for a while before Harper made some bully-ball shots late in the game, and then the prayer to win it. We'll see if Morton gets another crack at Harper this time, if Harper even plays and Purdue calls on Morton to check him.

F — 3 Caleb Furst (6-10, 230, Fr.)

4.5 PPG • 3.7 RPG • 57.5% FG • 40.9% 3-PT

Furst was also put in a tough spot against Rutgers and Harper Jr. back in December. Furst was starting at that stage of the season, so if Purdue guards Harper with its 4 — if he plays — then Gillis now gets the bulk of that burden.

G — 5 Brandon Newman (6-5, 200, So.)

5.0 PPG • 32.5% 3-PT • 85% FT

Freshmen Trey Kaufman-Renn and Brian Waddell will redshirt this season. Waddell will miss most of the season after tearing his ACL and Kaufman-Renn is now sidelined up to six weeks after undergoing foot surgery.

Schedule | Roster | Stats

• Rutgers is one of the hottest teams in college basketball, playing themselves not only into a position to make the NCAA Tournament, but also into a spot as a Big Ten contender.

The Knights have played their past four games against ranked teams — everyone else in the Big Ten beside Purdue — and won all four, beating Michigan State and Ohio State in Jersey, then Wisconsin in Madison, and then Illinois at home.

A team that's also lost at home to Lafayette and has lost Big Ten games to bottom-feeders Minnesota, Maryland and Penn State now sits just a game back in the loss column atop the Big Ten.

• Rutgers star Ron Harper Jr. hurt his hand In the win over Illinois and his status for the Purdue game Is unknown. Rutgers Issued a statement calling him "day to day."

• Rutgers leads the Big Ten in scoring defense, allowing just 65.6 points in conference games. The Scarlet Knights just played every other ranked team in the league in succession prior to Purdue and didn't allow more than 65 points to any of them.

Since Purdue scored 68 against Rutgers back in December, other Northwestern scored more points, finishing regulation with 70 points en route to scoring 79 in the OT win.

Tempo does play into Rutgers keeping scores low.

• Rutgers is No. 1 in the Big Ten in defensive steals percentage.

• The Scarlet Knights — in a stark contrast to some past teams they've had — is third in the Big Ten in three-point shooting, at 38.2 percent. Harper's among the league leaders.

• Rutgers does allow more points via the three-pointer than anyone else In the Big Ten, 40.6 of the scoring its given up this season.

STARTERS

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

12.2 PPG • 4.1 AST • 33.3% 3-PT

Purdue didn't see Baker in December, as he was sidelined by injury, but it knows the combustible guard well and will need to do a great job occupying his space, coming out to take away his quick-trigger threes and pull-ups and simply doing anything it can to keep him out of rhythm. In his last visit to Mackey Arena, he scored 19 and went off during crunch time in the Scarlet Knights' overtime win.

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

11.5 PPG • 8.1 REB • 60.6% FG

Rutgers' center is a high-end athlete and rim-runner who Purdue's going to want to keep a body on in pick-and-roll and on the offensive glass. Getting him in foul trouble would be helpful, too.

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

15.7 PPG • 6.2 RPG • 1.8 AST • 41.1% 3-PT

Harper's status for the Purdue game is up in the air, but if he plays, the Boilermakers obviously have a matchup challenge on their hands, as Harper is a high-level scoring guard in a power forward's body. In a loaded league, no one's talking about him as a first-team All-Big Ten player, but his season stacks up well against anyone.

One of the many challenges Harper presents is that he plays the 4 for Rutgers, and matching him on forwards is a tough guard, but so is putting a less physical perimeter player on him.

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

6.6 PPG • 5.0 RPG • 2.2 AST • 2.4 STL

One of the Big Ten's foremost energy guys, McConnell is a super-active and versatile forward who's disruptive on defense and will attack the basket on offense.

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

9.1 PPG • 4.3 RPG • 5.5 AST • 1.4 STL • 34.4% 3-PT

The biggest difference during Rutgers' late-season surge has been the veteran guard, who's being featured more and delivering. He's been in double-figures the past six games, and on the road he's been excellent. He scored 31 at Northwestern — the Knights lost in OT — and 18 in the win at Wisconsin. He's averaging 17.8 points the past five games, four of which came against ranked teams, all of them Rutgers wins.

KEY RESERVES

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

3.2 PPG • 2.1 REB

F - 21 Dean Reiber (6-10, 225, So.)

3.0 PPG • 1.3 RPG • 55.1% FG • 62.5% 3-PT (5-8)

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

4.6 PPG • 2.9 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.

This has been a wild run for Rutgers, who's basically run the table through the Big Ten's top 25 teams in reverse order, leading up to ... Purdue.

But the Boilermakers are a tougher and better defensive team now than they were back in December, and Harper's injury is not an insignificant development if it limits him or keeps him out altogether.

This comes down to Purdue's ability to scratch out enough points, and here's guessing that at home, and coming off a chance to take a deep breath, it'll be up to it.

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