gophers gameday

1:30 P.M. VS. PURDUE • WILLIAMS ARENA • BTN, 1500-AM

Gophers at a glance: They lost a heartbreaker in their first Big Ten game of the season, falling 63-60 at home to Michigan on Thursday after DeAndre Mathieu's long three-point try at the buzzer missed the mark. The Gophers (11-3) shot only 39.6 percent from the floor, including going 5-for-19 from three-point range. Part of that, coach Richard Pitino said, was due to their shot selection, taking eight low-percentage "challenged" shots and making only one of them. Andre Hollins and Austin Hollins combined to go just 4-for-19 from the floor against the Wolverines. Elliott Eliason had his fourth double-double of the season leading up to what could be one of the toughest challenges inside against Purdue. The center is blocking 2.3 shots a game.

Purdue at a glance: The Boilermakers (10-4) still have plenty to prove after opening the league slate with a 78-69 home loss to Ohio State and beating just one top-100 team all year. What they have shown is that they can consistently be a strong shot-blocking team, coming in at 24th nationally, according to analyst Ken Pomeroy. Center A.J. Hammons hasn't taken quite the sophomore leap some were expecting, but he is ranked third in the nation in blocked-shot percentage, at 3.8 a game. He is coming off an 18-point, 16-rebound game against the Buckeyes. Despite the loss, the Boilermakers had 46 rebounds. Senior guard Terone Johnson leads the team with 13.9 points and four rebounds a game.

AMELIA RAYNO