Both No. 15 Purdue (23-6, 14-2) and Ohio State (17-12, 8-8) have plenty to play for in tonight's Big Ten game in Columbus, albeit on a very different scale.
The Boilermakers, 2.5-point underdogs on WagerWeb.com, look to take a half-game lead atop the league standings as they try to snap a seven-game road losing streak to Ohio State (by an average margin of 13.3 points). Currently, Purdue is tied with No. 10 Wisconsin atop the Big Ten. The Badgers host Penn State on Wednesday before finishing at Northwestern on Saturday. If both teams win their final two contests to share the league title, the Boilermakers would earn the No. 1 seed for next week's conference tournament because they swept the Badgers this season.
However, Purdue, which hasn't won a Big Ten title since 1995-96, hasn't won at Ohio State since Feb. 7, 1998. The Boilermakers finish at Michigan on Sunday.
Purdue has been good on the road this year, winning league games at Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Penn State and Northwestern, losing only at No. 17 Michigan State and No. 18 Indiana (which ended a five-game road winning streak).
"This is why you play basketball," Purdue freshman Robbie Hummel said. "It's tough that Purdue never has won in Value City Arena, but until this season, Purdue never had won in (Wisconsin's) Kohl Center, either."
Purdue leads the league during conference play by making 39 percent of its 3-pointers. The Boilers, whose 339 attempts are the fourth-highest total in the league, made 11 of 22 3-pointers in their 68-43 victory over Northwestern on Saturday. It was the third time this season they made 11 3-pointers in a game and the 13th time they attempted at least 20.But Ohio State is No. 1 during Big Ten play defending the 3, allowing teams to shoot only 30 percent from beyond the arc.
In Purdue's 75-68 victory over Ohio State on Jan. 12 in Mackey Arena, the Boilermakers made 8 of 21 3-pointers (38 percent) and shot the same percentage from the field. Purdue also had 18 turnovers, its second-highest total of the season.
Ohio State, last season's national runner-up, expected to have a bit of a step back this year after losing Greg Oden and Co. to the NBA draft. But the Buckeyes have lost four consecutive games to severely damage their NCAA Tournament hopes.
Jamar Butler is the leading scorer for Ohio State with 14.1 ppg, but the only other double-digit scorer on the team is center Kosta Koufos with 14.0 ppg, and he is pulling down 7.0 rpg to go along with 54 blocks.
The Buckeyes are limiting opponents to 60.8 ppg on 38.2 percent shooting from the floor, but the team has been inconsistent at the offensive end. In a loss to Minnesota on Saturday, Koufos netted 17 points and Butler added 13. Still, the Buckeyes connected on only 5-of-18 3-pointers and were outrebounded by a 37-24 margin. OSU is sixth in the conference in scoring with 67.0 points per game.
The Buckeyes have dropped their last two at home, both against ranked opponents Indiana and Wisconsin.
Butler, who averages a team-leading 14.1 points per game, had 26 against Purdue in January, while the 7-foot freshman Koufus had 12 points and nine rebounds in that contest.
"We need to guard Jamar Butler as best we can," Hummel said. "We have to limit (forward) Othello Hunter and (center) Kosta Koufos from getting rebounds."
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