No. 10 seed Purdue (16-15, 9-11) vs. No. 7 seed Ohio State (21-10, 11-9)
Big Ten Tourney Second Round, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis; Thursday, 5:30 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: Purdue and Ohio State are prepared to match up in the second round of the Big Ten tournament. The only meeting between the teams this season came on Feb. 15, when the Buckeyes outshot Purdue 48.9 percent to 35.2 percent and made five more 3-pointers en route to the 16-point victory.
Cassius Winston and fellow Michigan State seniors kiss the Spartan logo in final home game
TEAM LEADERSHIP: This game represents an Indiana homecoming for Boilermakers sophomore Eric Hunter Jr., who’s put up 10.6 points this season. Trevion Williams has also led the way for the visitors by averaging 11.5 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. On the other bench, Kaleb Wesson has averaged 14 points and 9.3 rebounds while CJ Walker has put up 8.7 points.
WATCH OUT FOR WESSON: K. Wesson has connected on 42.5 percent of the 106 3-pointers he’s attempted and has made 6 of 11 over the last three games. He’s also made 73.1 percent of his foul shots this season.
THRIVING WITH THREES: Purdue is 5-0 when it makes 11 or more 3-pointers and 11-15 when it falls short of that total. Ohio State is 11-0 when it makes at least 10 from 3-point range and 10-10 on the year, otherwise.
UNBEATEN WHEN: The Buckeyes are 11-0 when they make 10 or more 3-pointers and 10-10 when they fall shy of that mark. The Boilermakers are 5-0 when they make 11 or more 3-pointers and 11-15 when the team hits fewer than 11 from long range.
DID YOU KNOW: The Ohio State defense has allowed only 62.9 points per game to opponents this season, ranking the Buckeyes 23rd among Division I teams. The Purdue offense has averaged 68.2 points through 31 games (ranked 242nd, nationally).