On Thursday night the Purdue Boilermakers will be looking to defend their home court against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Purdue enters the matchup with a 23-3 record, while Rutgers enters with a 14-11 record. Purdue is yet to lose at home this season and will be looking to keep that streak going.

Rutgers has been mediocre, to say the least, but in their last 5 games, they are 4-1 including wins over Wisconsin, Northwestern, Maryland, and Michigan. Rutgers is 3-6 on the road this year while being 11-3 at home. Rutgers are statistically one of the best defensive teams in the country ranking 2nd in defensive efficiency according to Kempom. But scoring has been a really big problem for them this year, only averaging 66.9 PPG (376th). Another interesting fact about Rutgers is that they have only scored 80+ points in a game 3 times this season, but the late addition of Jeremiah Williams has been huge on both sides of the court.

Rutgers Leading Scorer: C Clifford Omoruyi- 11.2 PPG, 9.0 REB, 3.3 BLK

Rutgers Role Players

G Jeremiah Willams- 13.2 PPG, 5.2 REB, 4.0 APG / F Aundre Hyatt: 11.0 PPG, 4.8 REB, 1.4 APG

G Derek Simpson: 9.6 PPG, 3.2 APG, 1.4 STL / F Mawot Mag: 9.5 PPG, 1.2 STL, 3.9 REB / G Noah Fernandes: 6.4 PPG, 1.6 APG, 0.8 STL

Purdue has been phenomenal this season, they are entering the game winning 9 out of their last 10 games. The Boilermakers are coming off one of the worst losses of the season to Ohio State, and now people are starting to overreact to Purdue only taking their 3rd loss of the season. Purdue is 13-0 at home this season while being 5-3 on the road. The stories for Purdue have been Zach Edey dominating for another year, Braden Smith taking a huge leap from freshman year to sophomore year, and grad transfer Lance Jones being a major contributor to this team.

Purdue’s Leading Scorer (Obviously): C Zach Edey- 23.2 PPG, 11.9 REB, 2.3 BLK

Purdue’s Role Players

G Braden Smith- 12.8 PPG, 7.2 APG, 1.7 STL / G Lance Jones- 12.8 PPG, 2.8 APG, 1.3 STL

G Fletcher Loyer- 10.5 PPG, 1.6 APG, 2.0 REB / F Mason Gillis- 6.8 PPG, 3.7 REB, 1.4 APG / F TKR- 6.8 PPG, 4.5 REB, 1.0 APG

I’ve already said this multiple times but Purdue is yet to lose at home this season, but the last home loss they took was against Rutgers last season. Purdue really needs a get-back game after a very disappointing loss to Ohio State, but if there is anywhere you want to play it would definitely be Mackey Arena. Something that could be very bad for Rutgers is that even though they are very efficient on defense, Purdue averages 84.4 PPG and only gives up 69.9 PPG. Purdue is a horrible matchup for Rutgers, the Boilermakers lineup is better in every aspect of the game. Purdue should be very close to covering the 16.5-point spread (As of now) and will get an easy home win to get the energy back.

Score Prediction: Purdue wins 79-57

Game Start: 7:00 PM EST @ Mackey Arena

Where To Watch: Fox Sports 1

Where To Listen: Varsity Network