On Wednesday, Purdue heads to Assembly Hall (IL) to take on Illinois. It gets started at 9 p.m. EST and you can catch it on Big Ten Network. The Boilermakers defeated the Fighting Illini 68-61 on Jan. 2 and are 8-2 against them over the past four years.

Illinois and Purdue are neighbors in the Big Ten, holding down eigth and sixth place, respectively.

The Boilermakers were defeated by Michigan State 78-65 on Feb. 9 despite 20 points from Terone Johnson. He leads the team with 12.7 points per game. For the Fighting Illini, Tracy Abrams finished with 5 points and 6 rebounds in the 57-53 win over Minnesota on Feb. 10. He averages 10.7 points per game in addition to a team-best 3.4 assists per game.

Illinois StatSmack

• Over the past 5 years, Purdue has had more players drafted by the NBA than Illinois (three vs. one).
• Boom! Purdue defeated Illinois by 7 points the last time they played (Jan 02, 2013).
• Purdue has an average margin of victory of 8 over Illinois in 36 wins since 1980.
• You'll do better on next semester's exams, right? Purdue currently has a higher Academic Progress Rate (995 to 952) than Illinois, per the NCAA.
• Purdue has come back to win after being down at half against Illinois eight times since 1997.
• Purdue is ranked higher than Illinois in the Big Ten (No. 6 vs. No. 8).
• A.J. Hammons is ranked 4th in the Big Ten in rebounds and 37th nationally in blocks.
• Ronnie Johnson is ranked 7th in the Big Ten in assists.
• A for effort, but Purdue has emerged victorious against Illinois the last eight times they've played.
• Purdue is better under pressure, and has defeated Illinois in four out of the last seven games decided by five points or fewer.
• The Purdue rebounding leader (A.J. Hammons, 164 rebounds) has more rebounds than the Illinois rebounding leader (Nnanna Egwu, 118 rebounds).