GAME NOTES: Coming off an exciting overtime victory this past weekend, the Purdue Boilermakers turn their attention to fellow Big Ten Conference foe Illinois on Wednesday night.

For the second time this season, the Boilermakers were pushed to overtime and came away with a win as they topped the Penn State Nittany Lions in Happy Valley on Saturday, 84-77. The other favorable outcome in overtime came against BYU during the Maui Invitational back in November by a scant two points, 87-85.

Purdue snapped a two-game slide with the decision against Penn State, and now the team is 3-2 in league play.

Over on the other side, the Fighting Illini are a team that opened the season on a six-game win streak but have been frustrated of late with just two victories in the last six outings. On Sunday afternoon, the program was taken out by Indiana at home, 80-74, marking the second loss in the last three contests for Illinois, now just 2-4 in league action.

Purdue leads the all-time series, 97-85, posting a mark of 24-21 at the State Farm Center over the years.

Shooting better than 50 percent from the field on Saturday, the Boilermakers were able to overcome 16 turnovers and just 18-of-29 shooting at the free- throw line in order to capture the seven-point overtime win at the Bryce Jordan Center. A.J. Hammons provided a huge lift for the program as he registered a double-double consisting of 21 points and 12 rebounds, adding three blocked shots in an effort to offset his seven turnovers. Kendall Stephens accounted for a team-high 22 points on 6-of-12 shooting beyond the arc, followed by Jon Octeus and Vince Edwards with 13 and 11 points, respectively.

During conference play, Purdue has generated 66.6 ppg, which is just 1.2 ppg greater than the competition. The margin could be considerably better if not for the fact that the Boilermakers have shot only 65.2 percent at the free- throw line, compared to 78.0 percent for the competition. Stephens leads the way with 14.0 ppg, hitting on 42.9 percent of his chances beyond the arc. Of the 24 triples nailed by Purdue in the five league bouts, 15 have come from Stephens. Hammons (12.8 ppg) hammers the inside for 8.6 rpg, but some of his play is shaky at best, based on his 18 turnovers and just two assists.

Illinois led by as many as 11 in the first half against the Hoosiers, but that wasn't nearly enough to hold off the visitors who themselves led by as many as 11 points before holding on for the six-point road victory. Kendrick Nunn tried to carry the host as he tallied a game-high 24 points, shooting 6-of-10 beyond the arc, followed by Ahmad Starks with 19 points and six assists as he too shot the ball well on the perimeter (5-of-8). Malcolm Hill tacked on 12 points and three steals for a group that continues to learn how to play without injured Rayvonte Rice (17.2 ppg, 6.9 rpg).

The absence of Rice means the Illini are missing both their top scorer and rebounder, not to mention someone who still has the most steals (27) at this point even though he has missed four games. Hill, one of only two players to have started every game, tries to fill some of the scoring void with 13.6 ppg, as well as his presence on the glass (5.5 rpg) but it hasn't been easy. In conference matchups Hill has generated 14.8 ppg and Nunn another 13.5 ppg for a unit that is posting only 63.2 ppg.

Without Rice the Illini are certain to drop outings that they would have otherwise claimed during the Big Ten portion of the schedule, but this particular meeting against Purdue is one that is still a potential victory as long as Hill and Nunn have something to say about it.