Minnesota travels to Mackey Arena on Saturday to take on Purdue. The game gets underway at 12 p.m. EST and you can see it on Big Ten Network. The Golden Gophers are 2-5 against the Boilermakers over the last four years. They fell 79-66 on Jan. 8, 2012, the last time they met.

Minnesota is in sixth place in the conference, Purdue is in ninth place.

The Golden Gophers fell 53-51 to Nebraska on Mar. 6. Trevor Mbakwe finished with 15 points and seven rebounds in the loss. He paces the team in rebounds per game with 8.7, and blocks per game with 1.5. For the Boilermakers, Terone Johnson finished with 32 points and seven rebounds in the 80-75 loss to Michigan on Mar. 6. His 13.5 points per game is the highest mark on the team.

Purdue StatSmack

  • Since 1998, Minnesota has recruited more Top 50 high school players than Purdue (six vs. three).
  • Minnesota has a much better Kiplinger In-State Ranking than Purdue (No. 52 vs. No. 66).
  • The Minnesota steals leader (Austin Hollins, 51 steals) has more steals than the Purdue steals leader (Ronnie Johnson, 26 steals).
  • Minnesota has come back to win after being down at half against Purdue three times since 2001.
  • Minnesota has a much better Kiplinger Out-of-State Ranking than Purdue (No. 9 vs. No. 92).
  • Minnesota has a much lower admission rate (more selective) according to Kiplinger (50 percent vs. 73 percent).
  • Minnesota has a better record at home than Purdue this season (15-2 vs. 10-6).
  • Diaper Dandies love Minnesota. Minnesota has recruited more McDonald's All-Americans out of high school than Purdue (6 vs. 5).
  • Minnesota has more wins against the RPI Top 50 than Purdue this season (five vs. two).
  • Trevor Mbakwe is ranked 45th nationally in rebounds and 3rd in the Big Ten in blocks.
  • Minnesota players are more experienced than Purdue players (16,369 minutes played vs. 11,300 minutes played).