MBB Preview \\ No. 7 Purdue

After an eight day layoff, the University of Iowa men’s basketball team returns home to host No. 7 Purdue on Tuesday at 6 p.m. (CT) on Mediacom Court inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.  The game will be streamed live on Peacock.
• Tickets are available for $35-45 for adults and $20-25 for youth.

FOLLOW LIVE
Radio: Tuesday’s game will be broadcast on the Hawkeye Radio Network with Gary Dolphin (play-by-play) and Bobby Hansen (color) on the call.  The network includes more than 40 stations that blanket the state of Iowa and include portions of Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin.  The Hawkeye Radio Network includes a 60-minute pregame show.
Stream: Tuesday's game will be televised on Peacock with Paul Burmeister (play-by-play) and Stephen Bardo (color) on the call.

OPENING TIP

• After an eight-day layoff, the Hawkeyes return home to host No. 10 Purdue on Tuesday inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena.  Iowa is 11-2 at home this season.
• Tuesday’s contest is Iowa’s second game against a ranked opponent this season and the first of two this week against top-25 foes.  The Hawkeyes’ last win over a ranked team in Carver came in overtime over Wisconsin (88-86) last season. 
• Senior Payton Sandfort moved into third place on Iowa’s all-time 3-point field goal list when he made three 3-point field goals at Ohio State.  Sandfort moved past current assistant coach Matt Gatens with 240 career 3-point makes.
• Iowa is leading the Big Ten and ranks sixth nationally, averaging 85.7 points per game.  The Hawkeyes have the top field goal (.500) and second-best effective field goal percentage (.581) in the Big Ten, ranking fourth and sixth nationally in both categories. 
• Senior Payton Sandfort has scored 20+ four times in the last seven games, giving him a team-best eight 20+ point games this season.  
• Sophomore Seydou Traore has landed in double figures in two of the team’s last three games, including scored 13 points on 3-of-5 shooting at Ohio State.  He’s averaging 10 points and four rebounds during the stretch, shooting 69 percent from the field.
• The Hawkeyes have rallied to win four games this season when trailing in the second half.  Iowa came back from being 15 down in the overtime win over Nebraska on Jan. 7 in Iowa City.  
 • Iowa has shot better than 50 percent from the floor 10 times and better than 60 percent three times, including a season-best 62.7 percent in the win over New Orleans on Dec. 15.  The team is 9-1 when shooting at least 50 percent from the field.
• The Hawkeyes have made at least eight 3-point field goals in 17 games, including 10+ in 11 contests. Iowa made 18 in the win over Southern -- the most since 2022 -- and 17 in the win over Nebraska .  Iowa is tops in the Big Ten (19th nationally), averaging 10.2 per game.  
• Iowa is leading the Big Ten in assists (19.1, 3rd in NCAA) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.87, 3rd in NCAA). The team has had 20+ assists in nine games.

SCOUTING PURDUE
• The Boilermakers have won nine of their last 10 games to improve to 17-5 overall and 9-2 in Big Ten play.  Purdue downed Indiana, 81-76, on Friday night in West Lafayette.
• Prior to losing 73-70 at home against Ohio State, Purdue had won seven straight games, including four straight on the road.
• Three Boilermakers are averaging in double figures with Trey Kaufman-Renn leading the team, averaging 18.4 points (sixth in the Big Ten) and 6.2 rebounds.  He is shooting 60.4 percent from the floor.  
• Kaufman-Renn averaged 6.4 points and four rebounds a season ago.
• Guard Braden Smith averages 15.8 points and 8.8 assists, while leading the team with 47 3-pointers and 56 steals.  He leads the Big Ten in both assists and steals, ranking second and sixth nationally.  Fletcher Loyer averages 14 points with 44 3s and a league-best 46.3 3-point percentage.
• The Boilermakers shoot 49.4 from the field and 37.7 from 3-point range, ranking second and third in the league (behind Iowa).  
• Purdue has the fourth-best scoring defense in the Big Ten, allowing 67.91 points per game.

SERIES HISTORY

• Purdue has won three straight and nine of the last 11 games in the series dating back to 2018.
• The Boilermakers have won the last two meetings in Iowa City, winning 84-70 last season and 83-73 during the 2021-22 campaign.
• Iowa is 5-4 in the last nine meetings with the Boilermakers in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
• The Hawkeyes’ last win over Purdue came in the 2022 Big Ten Tournament title game -- a 75-66 victory.

LAST GAME: OHIO STATE 82, IOWA 65

Iowa trailed the Buckeyes, 30-26, at the break before Ohio State erupted for 52 second-half points in a 82-65 victory on Jan. 27 in Columbus.  
• The Buckeyes held Iowa to a season-low 65 points and a 39.3 field goal percentage in the game.
• Graduate Drew Thelwell recorded his second 20 point game of the season, making 8-of-10 field goals.  He was one of four Hawkeyes in double figures.

IOWA IS...

• 6-0 when scoring 90+ points this season.
• 5-0 when winning the rebounding battle.
•10-0 when shooting more free throws than its opponents.
• 10-1 when leading at the half.

HIGH FLYING HAWKS

Iowa is the highest scoring offense in the nation, averaging 85.7 points.  It would be the team’s highest scoring average since 1988-89 (89.6 points).
• The Hawkeyes scored 80+ points in 11 consecutive games from Nov. 26-Jan. 17.  It was the longest stretch of the McCaffery era and the longest for the program since the 1988-89 season (13 straight).
• Iowa has scored 90+ points six times this season and the team has eclipsed the 100-point mark three times.
• The Hawkeyes have averaged 80+ points in each of the last four seasons.

PAYTON WATCH

Senior Payton Sandfort currently is 19th in program history with 1,403 career points, while ranking third in the record books with 240 career 3-point field goals.  He is 22 3-point field goals shy of tying Jeff Horner for No. 2 in program history.