Illinois at Purdue Pre-Gamearama

Illinois treads into Purdue looking for some sort of consistency and a little respect. Following their first win against a Top 25 team on Tuesday, most every piece of press credited the win to Indiana's poor shooting and some luck by Illinois to catch them on such a night. Saturday gives Illinois the opportunity to prove them wrong against a struggling Purdue team. A convincing win in West Lafayette could give the Illini the shot of positive press that they need.

This will be Illinois' only shot at the Boilermakers, so a win will be vital in their push to get into the top half of the conference. It will also be necessary to give Illinois an improved road record, where the Illini are 1-2 one month into the conference season.

Pruitt and Carter are going to need to come up big for the Illini in this one. Not only in the scoring column but also on the boards. Once Illinois establishes a presence inside, they'll be able to open it up on the wings and let Rich McBride continue his good shooting of the past few weeks.

This will be the first sell out game of the year at Mackey Arena, and Purdue is going to feed off that increased energy. They feel the key to their game is to match the intensity of the Illini. Coach Painter will probably be driving home the point to crash the glass against an Illini team that does not shoot well, but does crash the offensive glass.

In a game between former Saluki coaches, Weber has the upper hand.

Prediction

Illinois 58

Purdue 54

Illinois Seeks Important Road Win (DailyIllini)

Boilers Face Well-Rounded Illini Attack (The Exponent)