Gameday preview: Gophers men's basketball vs. Purdue

Another chance against Purdue, 12 days after second-half collapse

Preview: The Gophers (12-7, 5-7 Big Ten) are looking for revenge in their rematch Thursday against Purdue (13-7, 8-5) at the Barn. The Boilermakers manhandled Minnesota 81-62 on Jan. 30 in West Lafayette, Ind. It was a tale of two halves. The Gophers led by as much as 14 points in the first half, but they were outscored 51-27 in the second. Purdue's freshmen foursome made the difference with a combined 51 points, including Brandon Newman scoring 21 of his career-high 29 points in the second half. The Gophers improved to 12-1 at home Monday by stopping a three-game slide in a 79-61 victory over Nebraska.

Players to watch: Gophers point guard Marcus Carr had 21 points and eight assists in 19 minutes against Nebraska. Carr had a combined 39 points and 15 assists in his past two games since being held to six points on 2-for-13 shooting in the loss at Purdue. Boilermakers freshman Jaden Ivey is playing his best basketball, averaging 12.4 points in his past seven games, including a team-high 20 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals in a 75-70 win over Northwestern on Saturday.

Numbers: The Gophers took 36 shots from three-point range Monday against Nebraska — the most threes attempted in a regulation game in Richard Pitino's tenure — but made only eight. The team is shooting only 29.4% on threes this season, last in the Big Ten and 309th nationally.

Marcus Fuller