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Once again, Purdue's season is on the line. We're looking for important consecutive road victories and we're facing an Illinois team missing its best player. That makes this game not so much a must-win as a great opportunity to come away with another road win. Even road wins at Penn State are like gold int he Big Ten. To make the NCAA Tournament Purdue is going to have to win three more times away from Mackey Arena even if it holds serve at home the rest of the way, so why not get one tonight?
| Opponent: | Illinois Fighting Illini |
| From: | Champaign, IL |
| Date: | 1/21/2014 |
| Venue: | State Farm Center (17,085) |
| TV: | Big Ten Network |
| Radio Stream: | TuneIn |
| Satellite Radio: | SIRI 136, XM |
| Odds: | Illinois by 4 |
| Tickets: | As low as $7.25 on Stubhub |
| Tipoff: | 9pm |
| KenPom Ranking: | 73 of 351 |
| RPI: | 63 |
| Blog Representation: | The Champaign Room |
| 2014-15 Record: | 12-7, 2-4 |
| All-time series | Purdue leads 97-85 |
| Last Purdue win: | 66-58 at Illinois on 1/15/2014 |
| Last Illinois Win: | 79-59 at Illinois on 2/13/2013 |
| 2013-14 Record: | 20-15, 7-11 Big Ten (Lost in NIT second round) |
| Last NCAA appearance: | 2013 (2005 NCAA Runner-up) |
| Coach: | John Groce (139-91 overall, 54-35 in 3rd year at Illinois) |