On Friday Night the #1 Purdue Boilermakers will face off against #9 Illinois at Mackey Arena. This matchup will be the first top-10 game in Mackey since 2010. The Purdue Boilermakers enter the matchup with a 13-1 record, and the Illinois Fighting Illini enter the matchup with an 11-2 record.

Illinois has easily been the second-best team in the Big Ten this season, Illinois has wins over FAU, Missouri, and Northwestern. Illinois’ two losses were both top 10 teams, Marquette and Tennessee. Illinois is a very talented team, but when they play good teams they seem to crumble under pressure. To be ranked #9 in the country you need to be able to beat good teams at home, the Marquette loss was fine, but you have to win those tough games. With the recent suspension of Illinois star player Terrence Shannon Jr, this team might have problems down the stretch.

Illinois Leading Scorer (Excluding Shannon): SG Marcus Domask- 13.2 PPG, 3.1 AST, 4.6 REB

Illinois Role Players: PF Quincy Guerrier- 11.0 PPG, 7.4 REB / C\PF Coleman Hawkins- 10.3 PPG, 5.5 REB, 1.3 STL

C Dain Dainja- 7.5 PPG, 4.3 REB / SF Ty Rodgers- 5.9 PPG, 2.6 AST / SG Luke Goode- 6.9 PPG, 4.4 REB

Purdue has been the best team in college basketball this season, holding a 13-1 record and only losing on the road against Boo Buie and the Northwestern Wildcats. Purdue has been led by NPOY Zach Edey who is not just tall, and sophomore guards Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer. Purdue also welcomed in grad transfer guard Lance Jones who has brought the defensive intensity and athleticism that last year’s Purdue team needed badly. Purdue just like Illinois has so much depth that they can’t play all their players the minutes they deserve.

Purdue’s Leading Scorer: C Zach Edey- 23.1 PPG, 10.3 REB, 2.3 BLK

Purdue’s Role Players: PG Braden Smith- 12.9 PPG, 6.7 AST, 1.9 STL / SG Fletcher Loyer- 11.3 PPG, 1.6 AST, 1.0 STL

SF Lance Jones- 10.8 PPG, 2.5 AST, 1.4 STL / PF Trey Kaufman-Renn- 6.9 PPG, 4.3 REB / PF Mason Gillis- 5.5 PPG, 3.6 REB

Purdue holds the home-court advantage which will be huge in this top-ten matchup, Purdue is 7-0 at home this year with wins over Iowa and Xavier, and Illinois is 2-1 on the road this year with wins over FAU and Rutgers. Purdue has already beat 3 top ten teams this year including #5 Tennessee, #7 Marquette, and #10 Arizona. This will be a great matchup for Purdue SF Lance Jones and Illinois SG Marcus Domask who were teammates at Southern Illinois before they both transferred to the Big Ten this season. Both of these teams are capable of long runs in March this season, both teams are well coached, and both teams have loads of talent. This could be one of the games of the year in college basketball.

Score Prediction: Purdue wins 76-65

Game Start: January 5th, 8:30 PM EST @ Mackey Arena

Where To Watch: Fox Sports 1 (FS1)

Radio Coverage: Varsity Network