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Preview: No. 11 Illinois at No. 4 Purdue
Mar 7, 2025; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Purdue Boilermakers guard Braden Smith (3) and Illinois Fighting Illini center Tomislav Ivisic (13) battle for position during the first half at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

Preview: No. 11 Illinois at No. 4 Purdue

Originally posted on Illinois Fighting Illini on SI
By Jason Langendorf  |  Last updated Jan 22, 2026 10:11 AM ET

All that has transpired in Illinois' 2025-26 season up to now has been a tune-up for this moment: Saturday's matchup in West Lafayette, Indiana, against perennial Big Ten baddie and No. 4 Purdue (2 p.m. CT, FOX). The No. 11 Illini may be a tad shorthanded, but even with guard Kylan Boswell joining wing Ty Rodgers on the sideline, they are legion – and they appear to have sufficiently sharpened their instruments during an eight-game winning streak to do battle with the Boilermakers.

In Illinois' most recent win, a rollover of Maryland at home on Wednesday, wing Andrej Stojakovic enjoyed a perimeter-shooting breakout and showed he may be the stop-gap to replace Boswell as the club's go-to lockdown defender. Freshman point guard Keaton Wagler flirted with a triple-double on an "off" night. And forward Jake Davis embodied coach Brad Underwood's next-man-up philosophy by making his first start and logging his most minutes in a game (25) since the Illini were hobbled by injuries across the roster back in November.

Meanwhile, Purdue is coming off a narrow road loss to UCLA – which is the cost of doing business in the Big Ten but also will likely be fuel in the tank as the Boilers gear up for an Illini outfit that most recently knocked them down a peg in Champaign in the regular-season finale a year ago. As terrifyingly productive as Braden Smith, Trey Kaufman-Renn and Fletcher Loyer have been in executing Matt Painter's scheme this season, Purdue – at least according to one respected metric – now rates as the No. 2 offense in the country. You'll never guess who's No. 1.

Here’s more information on Illinois' wildly anticipated matchup against Purdue on Saturday at Mackey Arena:

How to watch No. 11 Illinois Fighting Illini vs. No. 4 Purdue Boilermakers

  • Who:  Illinois Fighting Illini (16-3, 7-1 Big Ten) vs. Purdue Boilermakers (17-2, 7-1)
  • What: Big Ten matchup
  • When: Saturday, Jan. 24 at 2 p.m. CT
  • Where: Mackey Arena, West Lafayette, Indiana
  • TV/streaming: FOX
  • Radio/audio: Busey Bank Illini Sports Network (Champaign: WDWS 93.9 FM or 1400 AM; Chicago: WLS 890 AM); Fighting Illini Productions; Varsity Network App
  • Last week: Illinois put away Minnesota 77-67 last Saturday and Maryland 89-70 on Wednesday – both in Champaign – to run its current winning streak to eight games. Purdue is coming off a challenging West Coast trip in which it slipped by USC and fell 69-67 at UCLA in just its second loss of the season.
  • Series history: Illinois, which trails Purdue 91-107 in one of Big Ten basketball's tighter all-time series, has often taken it on the chin this century, including Boilermakers winning streaks of eight and five games. But the Illini halted the latter streak in the teams' most recent meeting, an 88-80 win over Purdue that threatened to bring the dome down on a frenzied State Farm Center.

What to know about Purdue

After an 89-point outburst against Maryland on, quite frankly, a quiet shooting night, Illinois overtook Purdue as the nation's No. 1 offense, according to KenPom. But splitting hairs will get you nowhere in this matchup. The Boilers have home court and, coming off the UCLA loss and last year's defeat in Champaign, loads of motivation to bring their best to Saturday's matchup.

Because Smith is college basketball's preeminent pick-and-roll operator and Kaufman-Renn and Oscar Cluff are terrific finishers but Purdue also has an array of perimeter shooters Smith will find if open, Underwood will have to pick his poison in this one. The Illini, with so much length, have done a quality job of contesting shooters even when they provide gap help on defense, but Smith will stretch them to their limit. Check out the Illinois on SI First Look at Purdue for more details.

This article first appeared on Illinois Fighting Illini on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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