How to Watch Illinois at Purdue
Game Time: 2 p.m. Saturday
TV Channel: Fox
Online Streaming: FoxSportsGO
Odds: N/A (Illinois 35% Chance To Win – ESPN Matchup Predictor)
Quick Hits:
No. 11 Illinois Fighting Illini (16-3, 7-1 Big Ten)
Head Coach: Brad Underwood (9th season)
Last Game: Illinois 89, Maryland
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Gameday Reading:
No. 4 Purdue Boilermakers (17-2, 7-1 Big Ten)
Head Coach: Matt Painter
Last Game: UCLA 69, Purdue 67
What Happened the Last Time These Two Teams Played?
- Purdue leads all-time series 107-91.
March 7, 2025: Illinois 88, Purdue 80
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Boiler. Down.
In a battle between two point guards who act as the offensive engines of their respective teams, Purdue guard Braden Smith won the battle but lost the war against Kasparas Jakucionis and Illinois.
In a back-and-forth battle for the ages between two arch-rivals, the Illini pulled off the upset and defended home court in an 88-80 victory over the Boilermakers, their first win against Purdue in over four years.
Smith finished one rebound shy of a triple-double, while Jakucionis, on a muted night shooting the ball, hit the shot heard around Champaign County.
It isn’t Illinois basketball if it doesn’t push you to the brink and then pull you back in, right? Midway through the second half, it seemed like the Illini were properly down and out. The Boilermaker advantage was ten, the largest advantage of the game by either team. It was then that the Illini went off for a 10-0 run out of seemingly nowhere to tie things up and then take the lead, a la Ben Humrichous from deep. 67-66 Illinois.
It was Illinois’ first lead since being up 17-15 in the early moments of the first half, and once the senior Humrichous sank the three that gave his squad the upper hand, State Farm Center erupted.
It stayed tight the rest of the way through, with the dagger being a Jakucionis three. The shot was the exclamation point on what was a quiet offensive night for him, but it was just what the Illini needed — and when they needed it.
