Wisconsin vs. Purdue

Badgers -1 vs. Boilermakers

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Two Big Ten teams heading in distinct opposite directions will tip-off Tuesday night as the surging Purdue Boilermakers travel to Madison to take on the wilting Wisconsin Badgers.

Purdue (15-4, 4-2) is riding a four-game winning streak into Wisconsin and has climbed to number 16 in the AP Poll. The Boilermakers got off to a tough start, but have been able to bounce back to live up to some of the pre-season forecasts which had Purdue finishing anywhere from number three in the Big Ten, all the way up to number one.

The Boilermakers continued their winning ways as they handed the Minnesota Golden Gophers only their second home loss of the season on Thursday, via a 70-62 victory. JaJuan Johnson contributed 19 points, eight rebounds and blocked five shots in the win. The sophomore is averaging 15.3 points, 7.8 boards and 3.5 blocks per game during Purdues winning streak.

Right there, with the Boilermakers, in the preseason forecast of top Big Ten teams were the Badgers. But this has turned out not to be the case. The Badgers have lost four straight games and, with a loss to the Boilermakers on Tuesday, would clinch their first five-game losing streak in over a decade.

The first game of their losing streak was also to Purdue, losing 65-52 on January 11th. Since then lackluster efforts and blown leads have hampered Wisconsin. The Badgers had leads at halftime against Minnesota on January 15th and at Iowa last Wednesday. Both of those game resulted in overtime losses.

Things seem to be getting progressively worse for Wisconsin as was seen in their most recent loss, on the road in Illinois. The Badgers suffered their worst shooting performance of the season, by hitting on 35.6 percent of their shots in a 64-57 loss. During their losing streak, the Badgers are losing from beyond the arc as well, 25.6 percent shooting from three-point range.

In addition to getting a much needed victory to snap their losing streak, the Badgers have added motivation in beating the Boilermakers. A season ago, Purdue broke an eight-game losing streak in Madison and also snapped Wisconsins 16-game home conference winning streak. Purdue has won three straight in the series and four of the last five.

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