No. 20 Purdue plays Minnesota after Smith's 34-point game

Updated Jan. 1, 2025 3:43 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Purdue Boilermakers (9-4, 1-1 Big Ten) at Minnesota Golden Gophers (8-5, 0-2 Big Ten)

Minneapolis; Thursday, 8 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: No. 20 Purdue visits Minnesota after Braden Smith scored 34 points in Purdue's 83-64 victory against the Toledo Rockets.

The Golden Gophers are 8-2 in home games. Minnesota scores 67.9 points while outscoring opponents by 4.1 points per game.

The Boilermakers have gone 1-1 against Big Ten opponents. Purdue is 1-0 in games decided by less than 4 points.

Minnesota scores 67.9 points per game, 3.3 fewer points than the 71.2 Purdue gives up. Purdue averages 8.5 made 3-pointers per game this season, 2.4 more made shots on average than the 6.1 per game Minnesota gives up.

The Golden Gophers and Boilermakers face off Thursday for the first time in Big Ten play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Dawson Garcia is averaging 19.1 points and 7.4 rebounds for the Golden Gophers.

Smith is averaging 14.5 points, 8.6 assists and 2.2 steals for the Boilermakers.

LAST 10 GAMES: Golden Gophers: 6-4, averaging 68.4 points, 30.7 rebounds, 15.9 assists, 6.3 steals and 5.5 blocks per game while shooting 44.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 65.5 points per game.

Boilermakers: 6-4, averaging 74.7 points, 29.4 rebounds, 16.4 assists, 5.7 steals and 1.9 blocks per game while shooting 46.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 71.8 points.

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.