PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers men's basketball sees its three-game homestand continue Thursday night, welcoming in No. 20/19 Purdue to Jersey Mike's Arena. The game tips off at 6 p.m. on FS1 with Alex Faust and Bill Raferty on the call. The game against Purdue marks the start of a stretch where five of the next seven games come against ranked teams.
This will be the third game this season for RU against a ranked team and the first at Jersey Mike's Arena. The previous two came in tight losses at the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas (95-90 to No. 9 Alabama, 81-77 to No. 20 Texas A&M).
Rutgers enters this game at 8-7 overall on the season and 1-3 in Big Ten conference play. The Scarlet Knights fell to Wisconsin, 75-63, on Monday night in their last contest. The Scarlet Knights had breakout performances from
Tyson Acuff (17 points) and
Dylan Grant (eight points) but were unable to overcome season-low outputs from their two leading scorers.
Acuff led the MAC and was eighth nationally last season in scoring at 21.7 points per game at Eastern Michigan. Limited by an offseason foot injury, he had not scored more than seven points through the first 14 games prior to breaking out with 17 points on 6-of-15 shooting in a season-high 30 minutes against the Badgers.
A freshman from Mississauga, Canada, Grant had seen action in just three of the first 14 contests, not seeing action since December 7, and playing just 20 minutes while shooting 0-of-8 from the field. Against Wisconsin, Grant played 16 minutes, shot 3-of-8, including a three-pointer, and added three rebounds, two blocks and a steal.
Rutgers had a season-low with the 63 points, marking the first game not reaching 66 points in a game this season. RU, who has never averaged more than 69 points per game under head coach
Steve Pikiell is averaging 78.2 points per game this season. The last time RU averaged over 70 points per game was 2013-14 (71.1 ppg). In fact, RU has averaged over 70 points per game for a full season just that one time since the start of the 2001-02 season.
This is the second of three straight home games for RU. The Scarlet Knights are 74-20 at Jersey Mike's Arena since 2019-20, 7-1 this season, and 18-6 over the past two years.
In the 21
st season under head coach Matt Painter, Purdue seeks to make the NCAA Tournament for the 16
th time. In that pursuit, the team has opened the year with an 11-4 record (3-1 in league play) and have been ranked as high as number six in the nation. In non-conference, the Boilermakers toppled then-No. 2 Alabama and No. 23 Ole Miss, with its three losses all coming to ranked foes (No. 2 Auburn, No. 15 Marquette and No. 17 Texas A&M). In conference play they've bounced back from an early loss to Penn State with wins over Maryland, Minnesota and Northwestern, but are just 1-2 in true road games and 3-4 away from Mackey Arena this season.
Purdue is led by Trey Kaufman-Renn at 17.8 points per game. Preseason Big Ten Player of the Year Brendan Smith is at 15.4 points per game with a Big Ten best 129 assists (third nationally). Smith also leads the Big Ten in three-pointers per game (2.8) for a Purdue team that is 14
th nationally in three-point percentage (39.6). Additionally, Fletcher Loyer has added 14.0 points per game.
Rutgers and Purdue will meet for the 23rd time all-time, with 18 of those matchups coming since RU joined the league in 2014-15. Rutgers has won five of the past nine meetings. That streak included a 70-68 win in the meeting at Jersey Mike's Arena, as
Ron Harper Jr. hit a buzzer-beating shot to down the No. 1 ranked Boilermakers, the first ever win for RU over a top-ranked team as well as a win at Mackey Arena over No. 1 Purdue again on Jan. 2, 2023, a 65-64 win. Last season, the Boilermakers swept both meetings versus RU, with Purdue ranked in the top-3 nationally for each meeting.
- The 17th ranked win for Rutgers under head coach Steve Pikiell
- The ninth ranked win for the program since the start of the 2021-22 season, all of them against program ranked 16th or higher nationally.
- Wins in six of the past 10 against Purdue.
Rutgers concludes its three-game homestand next Monday with another ranked matchup, welcoming No. 22/21 UCLA. That represents a 6:30 pm FS1 broadcast. RU then hits the road for games at Nebraska and Penn State.
