GAME NOTES: The 16th-ranked Purdue Boilermakers need a victory today to remain in the race for the Big Ten title, while the Northwestern Wildcats are coming off their first league win of the campaign. Northwestern carried an 0-14 conference record into Tuesday's road clash with Michigan, but the result of that contest was a hard-fought 62-60 victory. The Wildcats are now 8-18 overall, including 3-9 in true road games, and enter today's clash as clear underdogs. Purdue is one of the nation's most surprising teams, and Matt Painter has to be considered a strong candidate for national coach of the year. On Wednesday, Purdue beat Minnesota by a 65-53 final to improve to 22-6 overall and 13-2 in conference play. Indiana and Wisconsin serve as the main competition for the Big Ten crown, a race that figures to be decided on the final day of this regular season. Two weeks ago, Purdue cruised to a 71-56 victory over Northwestern, and the Boilermakers own a commanding 116-41 series lead over the Wildcats.

Craig Moore scored 25 points on 8-of-12 shooting from three-point range to lead Northwestern to the win over Michigan earlier this week. Kevin Coble pitched in 16 points, and Ivan Peljusic contributed 13. The Wildcats only turned the ball over 10 times and forced 14 turnovers, key to the victory. Coble leads the team in scoring this season with 16.4 ppg, and he is pulling down 5.5 rpg as well. Craig Moore checks in with 13.8 ppg, and he has recorded 52 steals. Michael Thompson rounds out the double-digit scorers with 11.7 ppg, and all three players mentioned are shooting better than 40 percent from three-point range. Still, Northwestern is generating only 63.3 ppg while permitting 68.6 ppg to the opposition.

No individual player boasts highly impressive stats for Purdue, as Painter has his team playing tremendously unselfish basketball. E'Twaun Moore is the leading scorer for the Boilermakers with 12.2 ppg, and he is shooting 41.2 percent from three-point range. Robbie Hummel, a 44.4 percent shooter from behind the arc, adds 11.6 ppg and 6.0 rpg to the mix, while Keaton Grant nets 10.8 ppg. Purdue is limiting opponents to 60.8 ppg this season, key to the tremendous and unexpected success. In the most recent victory over Minnesota on Wednesday, Moore scored 22 points on the strength of a 3-of-5 effort from three-point range. Hummel pitched in 12 points and eight rebounds, and Grant tallied 11 points. Only 10 turnovers were committed by the Boilermakers, and they limited Minnesota to 35.8 percent shooting from the field.

Purdue plays tremendous team basketball, and we can expect more of the same today. Painter will have his troops ready to play, and a victory over the Wildcats is a certainty.