Tim Miles stated about two weeks ago that the most brutal part of Nebraskaâ??s schedule was over and, to this point, the second-year coach has proved prophetic. The Cornhuskers have won four in a row and look to improve to a Big Ten-best 13-1 at home heading into Sundayâ??s game against Purdue with little reason to believe their roll will stop anytime soon. Nebraskaâ??s next four games are against teams among the bottom five of the conference before its regular season concludes against Wisconsin.
The Cornhuskers hope to avenge an earlier loss to the Boilermakers, who defeated Nebraska on Jan. 12, and match their longest conference winning streak since Jan. 13-27, 1999. Purdue has dropped six of its last eight following Thursdayâ??s 94-79 setback at home against No. 14 Michigan State and could be in danger of suffering its second losing season in three years. Following Sundayâ??s game, the Boilermakers face three of the conferenceâ??s five ranked teams in succession â?? including two on the road â?? before closing the season at home against Northwestern.
TV: 4:15 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network
ABOUT PURDUE (15-11, 5-8 Big Ten): The Spartans became only the third team to knock down more than 10 3-pointers against the Boilermakers Thursday, going 17-of-32 beyond the arc to set a record for the most 3-pointers allowed by Purdue. â??For Michigan State to come down and we play like that, itâ??s very disappointing. We came out dead. Weâ??ve got to be better than that,â? guard Rapheal Davis told the Lafayette Journal and Courier. Freshman Kendall Stephens, who is 12-of-24 beyond the arc over his last four games, enjoyed his finest game as a Boilermaker with 19 points.
ABOUT NEBRASKA (15-10, 7-6): Walter Pitchford left Thursdayâ??s victory against Penn State with a bone bruise on his left knee one game after suffering a right knee injury, but is expected to play Sunday. Terran Pettewayâ??s 26-point performance on Thursday gave the conferenceâ??s leading scorer 450 points, leaving him nine short of overtaking Jack Moore for fourth place and 19 shy of passing Jerry Fort for third place on the schoolâ??s sophomore scoring list. â??Iâ??ve had really hard workers throughout my 19-year career; I donâ??t know that Iâ??ve had (one) work harder at their game than Terran,â? Miles told the schoolâ??s official website.
TIP-INS
1. Nebraska has held its last four opponents to a combined 35.6 percent from the field and an average of 56.3 points.
2. Purdueâ??s underclassmen scored 71 of the teamâ??s 79 points Thursday and have accounted for 69.8 percent of the teamâ??s offense this season.
3. The Cornhuskers are eyeing their first six-game home conference winning streak since a school-record eight-game run spanning the 1981-82 and 1982-83 seasons.
PREDICTION: Nebraska 74, Purdue 63
