Big Ten tournament: Northwestern vs. Purdue

Northwestern (20-12) vs. Purdue (26-4) When: 5:30 p.m. at Conseco Fieldhouse TV: BTNRadio: WGN 720-AM The skinny: When the Wildcats bounced the Boilermakers 72-64 on Jan. 16 at Welsh-Ryan Arena, NU won the rebounding battle by an astounding 42-23 margin and that was when Purdue had a healthy Robbie Hummel. While Hummel is done after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery, this game could come down to the men in the middle. Northwestern center Luka Mirkovic piled up 16 points and 10 rebounds against Purdue, but he fouled out without scoring in Thursday's win over Indiana. Worse yet, Mirkovic injured his back early in the game and said it felt "really, really tight" afterward. Meanwhile, Purdue center JaJuan Johnson managed just 7 points and 2 rebounds before fouling out in 18 minutes two months ago at Northwestern. Surely he won't repeat his worst effort of the year. One thing on NU's side? The bench played 60 minutes Thursday, so the Wildcats could have enough fresh legs to withstand Purdue's trademarked man-to-man defensive pressure. Advancement: The winner faces the Michigan State-Minnesota winner at 3:10 p.m. Saturday.