Men's Basketball Set For Home Clash With Wisconsin - Purdue Boilermakers

Jan. 11, 2012

Purdue game notes | Wisconsin game notes

Tip: 7:02 p.m. ET
Television: ESPN and ESPN3. Dave O'Brien handles play-by-play with Stephen Bardo alongside as color analyst.
Radio: The Purdue Sports Network (Flagship - WSHP, 95.7 FM). Larry "Cliz" Clisby (play-by-play), Rob Blackman (analyst) and Ralph Taylor (analyst) call the action. Blackman also handles the pregame show, and Wes Scott engineers.
Satellite Radio: Sirius 91; XM 91.
Rankings: Purdue is not ranked in either the Associated Press or ESPN/USA Today polls. Wisconsin is receiving votes in both polls.
Live Stats: GameTracker live stats are available for all Purdue home games. A link to those stats can be found at purduesports.com.

GAME STORYLINES
» Purdue will take to its home court for the first time since the calendar flipped when it squares off with Wisconsin on Thursday in the teams' lone meeting of the 2011-12 regular season.

» The Boilermakers have won five in a row against UW at Mackey Arena, and enter the contest on a 26-game home winning streak that ranks as the fifth-longest in the nation; Purdue is 7-3 against UW under head coach Matt Painter.

» After opening Big Ten play with three of its first four on the road and coming away with a pair of road wins, the Boilers will play three of their next four games at Mackey, where it hasn't lost since Feb. 28, 2010.

» Thursday's game features the nation's top two teams at taking care of the ball, as Wisconsin leads the nation with an average of 8.6 turnovers per game and Purdue checks in second at just just 9.9 miscues per contest.

» The Boilers also entered the week among the nation's best in turnover margin and assist-to-turnover ratio, ranking seventh (+4.8) and 11th (1.41), respectively; Purdue has forced opponents into an average of 14.8 turnovers per game this season.

» The Boilermakers head into Thursday's game shooting 48.6 percent from the field from the field in Big Ten play, and have shot 50 percent or better in three of their four conference outings; Purdue is also shooting 41.3 percent from the arc in league play.

» Purdue is averaging 8.2 triples per game for the season; the Boilermakers have made at least 10 treys in a game five times on the year, and are 23-4 (.852) under Painter when connecting on at least 10 three-point field goals.

» Senior Ryne Smith entered the week ranked 24th nationally with a mark of 45.3 percent from beyond the arc, and his 48 three-pointers on the season rank fourth among players in the power six conferences; he needs three treys to move past Brian Cardinal for 10th place on Purdue's career chart.

» Junior D.J. Byrd owns the team scoring lead in Big Ten play with an average of 13.3 points per game after netting a career-high 18 at Minnesota; Byrd has been in double figures in three of four Big Ten games, and is shooting 62.1 percent from the field in conference play.

» Purdue has led in bench points in 13 of its 17 games this year, with sophomore Terone Johnson leading the way with an average of 6.9 points per game; the Boilermaker reserves have averaged 30.0 points on 56.1 percent shooting in Purdue's first four conference games.

» Junior Kelsey Barlow has given Purdue an added scoring punch in the team's last five outings, scoring in double figures three times and averaging 10.2 points on 52.9 percent shooting (18-of-34).