IOWA CITY, Iowa — Coming off a huge overtime win at Nebraska, Purdue is back at it on the road in another critical Big Ten game, visiting Iowa on Saturday afternoon in Iowa City.

DETAILS: Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026 | 5 p.m. ET | TV: FOX (Tim Brando, Casey Jacobsen) | Radio: Purdue Radio Network
PURDUE (20-4, 10-3 B1G): ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS
IOWA (18-6, 8-5 B1G): ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS

A FEW THINGS ABOUT PURDUE

• After winning at Nebraska, Purdue is looking for its eighth Quad 1 win Saturday afternoon. Road wins at Alabama, Wisconsin, Nebraska and USC are all Quad 1; Iowa would be, too. As of right now, so would Northwestern and Ohio State. As of this moment, all of Purdue’s remaining regular season games are Quad 1, though Indiana (home) and Northwestern (road) are right on the edge.

• Trey Kaufman-Renn‘s 19 rebounds at Nebraska marked his ninth double-digit rebounding game of the season. After averaging four rebounds during Purdue’s three-game losing streak, he’s averaged 12.3 in the three wins since.

• Oscar Cluff‘s 14-rebound outing in Lincoln was his first 10-plus-rebound game since Jan. 3 at Wisconsin. Ten of his boards at Nebraska came at the offensive end.

• Fletcher Loyer has led the Boilermakers in scoring three straight games, averaging 21.6 points in the three wins, two of them on the road.

• Purdue is shooting just 71.4 percent at the foul line in Big Ten play, an issue that nearly cost it dearly at Nebraska, where it was just 11-of-20 and effectively (considering a missed one-and-one) 1-fot-6 in the final minute of regulation. The three guys who missed them are al 80 percent or better in conference play this season.

ABOUT IOWA

• Iowa is likely bound for the NCAA tournament in year one under new coach Ben McCollum, but is coming off a dreadful loss at middling Maryland.

• Purdue’s win over Iowa in Mackey Arena a few weeks ago involved a little bit of warped reality. Yes, Purdue trailed by as many as nine and the Hawkeyes led at half, but Braden Smith keyed a second-half in which the Boilermakers were 16-of-22 from the floor.

What it took for Iowa to put itself in that position: Outlier shooting.

Shooters Purdue was willing to concede space to shot well over their percentages. Kael Combs was 4-of-5 from three-point range. Tavion Banks was 3-for-3.

Combs is 6-of-25 over all other games this season and though Banks is shooting a rock-solid 11-of-26 aside from the Purdue, he only averages a little more than one attempt per game.

Iowa is an excellent three-point-shooting team, but these are not the players that strength originates from.

• In Game 1, Purdue did OK on Bennett Stirtz, as the All-America candidate’s 19 points — one below his average — came on 15 shots and at the expense of three turnovers.

• Iowa lacks size, specifically rim protection and rebounding presence. Purdue just grabbed 21 offensive rebounds at Nebraska against a team similarly constructed.

Another parallel between Nebraska and Iowa: Steals. Iowa averages 6.8 per game in Big Ten play, second only to the Cornhuskers.

THREE KEYS FOR PURDUE

DECISION-MAKINGTHE INTERIORDEFENSIVE ENERGYBraden Smith turning the ball over only once in 40-plus minutes at steal-hungry Nebraska was crucial. Nothing changes in that regard.Iowa may not let the ball get inside, but Purdue’s guards are good at dribbling their posts open. Further, height and physicality have to show up, as they did at Nebraska.Purdue has to have 10 eyes on Stirtz, but also can’t ignore these guys who shot over their heads in Game 1. Handing rhythm to non-shooters makes them something more.

THREE THOUGHTS

• The Nebraska win felt like one of those moments for Purdue when teams really, really come together due to the shared experience of winning a game like that.
• Consistency: Purdue just won a marquee game on the road. The defensive presence and rebounding authority can’t come and go anymore this season. Trey Kaufman-Renn and Oscar Cluff might have just laid down a gauntlet on the glass.

Purdue has to show consistency now, consistency in its defensive connectedness and energy, its rebounding and its attentiveness to taking care of the basketball. It’s time for a veteran team to be the same every time out. Iowa is going to have a hard time matching up on the interior again and probably won’t get seven threes again from two players who don’t shoot much.