Michigan Wolverines basketball (17-9, 8-7 Big Ten) has won six of seven games, including a tough road win over Rutgers, as it heads into Mackey Arena for a big-time showdown with Purdue, who has lost three-straight.

The Boilermakers are tough at home, having blown out Michigan State and Iowa in West Lafayette. They've also lost three games, though, so the Wolverines wouldn't be the first ones to come in and win, if they do so.

U-M may be without its leading scorer, junior forward Isaiah Livers, who missed last game (his 10th game missed on the season) with an ankle injury. He will travel, but his status is in question.

In the first meeting between U-M and Purdue this season, the Wolverines pulled out a 84-78 victory in double-overtime at Crisler Center.

U-M has not won at Mackey Arena since 2014, on a buzzer-beater by Glenn Robinson III.

We caught up with Brian Neubert of GoldAndBlack.com to get more insight on the Boilermakers.

The Basics

Date: Saturday, Feb. 22

Time: 2:00 PM ET

Venue: Mackey Arena (West Lafayette, Ind.)

TV: ESPN

Spread: Purdue -3.5

RELATED: Juwan Howard On Livers' Status, Guarding Trevion Williams

RELATED: Videos: Juwan Howard, Players Preview Purdue

vs. Green Bay (W, 79-57)

vs. Texas (L, 77-60)

at Marquette (L, 65-55)

vs. Chicago State (W, 93-49)

vs. Jacksonville (W, 81-49)

vs. VCU (W, 59-56)

vs. Virginia (W, 69-40)

vs. Northwestern (W, 58-44)

at Nebraska (L, 70-56)

at Ohio (W, 69-51)

vs. Butler (L, 70-61)

vs. Central Michigan (W, 97-62)

vs. Minnesota (W, 83-78)

at Illinois (L, 63-37)

at Michigan (L, 84-78 in 2OT)

vs. Michigan State (W, 71-42)

at Maryland (L, 57-50)

vs. Illinois (L, 79-62)

vs. Wisconsin (W, 70-51)

at Rutgers (L, 70-63)

at Northwestern (W, 61-58)

vs. Iowa (W, 104-68)

at Indiana (W, 74-62)

vs. Penn State (L, 88-76)

at Ohio State (L, 68-52)

at Wisconsin (L, 69-65)

#3 - Senior guard Jahad Proctor (6-3, 205) — The High Point graduate transfer averages 9.5 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game, while shooting 40.3 percent from the field and 33.8 percent from three.

#2 - Sophomore guard Eric Hunter Jr. (6-4, 175) — Hunter Jr. averages 10.1 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. He shoots 41.6 percent from the field and 38.8 percent from three.

#20 - Junior guard Nojel Eastern (6-7, 225) — He is averaging 5.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game, while shooting 43.2 percent from the field. He is 0-for-3 on three-point attempts for the year.

#12 - Senior forward Evan Boudreaux (6-8, 220) — He averages 5.1 points and 3.6 rebounds per game, while shooting 31.6 percent from three-point range.

#32 - Junior center Matt Haarms (7-3, 250) — Haarms averages 9.0 points per game. He also adds 4.5 rebounds and 0.9 assists per contest. He shoots 54.1 percent from the field and is shooting 37.0 percent from three.

Off The Bench

#50 - Sophomore forward Trevion Williams (6-9, 270) — Williams averages 11.2 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game, while shooting 54.4 percent from the floor.

#55 - Sophomore guard Sasha Stefanovic (6-4, 195) — He averages 8.9 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game, and shoots 37.6 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from long range.

#1 - Sophomore forward Aaron Wheeler (6-9, 205) — He's averaging 4.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game in 19.0 minutes. He shoots 23.6 percent from the floor and 23.6 percent from three.

#11 - Freshman guard Isaiah Thompson (6-1, 165 ) — He averages 5.7 points and 1.1 rebounds per game in 19.1 minutes, while shooting 35.8 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from three.

#3 - Senior guard Zavier Simpson (6-0, 190) — Simpson averages 12.6 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. He leads the country in assists per game, with 8.0. He shoots 47.6 percent from the field and 37.0 percent from three.

#55 - Junior guard Eli Brooks (6-1, 185) — Brooks averages 11.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. He shoots 41.2 percent from the field and 37.4 percent from three.

#21 - Freshman guard Franz Wagner (6-9, 205) — He averages 10.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. Wagner shoots 40.9 percent from the field and 28.7 percent on three-pointers.

#2 - Junior forward Isaiah Livers (6-9, 235) — Livers leads U-M in scoring, at 13.3 points per game. He also adds 3.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists per contest, while shooting 49.3 percent from the field and 45.9 percent from three. ***He is questionable for today's game with an ankle injury suffered two games back against Indiana.

#15 - Senior center Jon Teske (7-1, 265) — Teske averages 12.0 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists per contest. He shoots 48.6 percent from the field and 26.3 percent from three.

Off The Bench

#0 - Sophomore guard David DeJulius (6-0, 190) — He averages 7.2 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game in 21.2 minutes. He shoots 41.8 percent from the field and 36.1 percent on three-pointers.

#23 - Sophomore forward Brandon Johns (6-8, 235) — Johns averages 6.5 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. He shoots 50.5 percent from the field and 40.0 percent from three. ***He will play if Livers is unable to play. Johns has made 10 starts this season when Livers has been hurt.

#51 - Redshirt junior forward Austin Davis (6-10, 250) — Davis averages 5.0 points and 2.8 rebounds per game in 10.4 minutes. He shoots 72.4 percent from the field.

#11 - Sophomore forward Colin Castleton (6-11, 235) — Castleton averages 3.3 points and 2.6 rebounds per game in 8.4 minutes, while shooting 55.1 percent from the field.

#5 - Sophomore guard Adrien Nunez (6-6, 210) — Nunez averages 2.1 points per game in 8.0 minutes per contest. He is shooting 26.2 percent from long range.

Williams went off for 36 points on 16-for-28 shooting and grabbed 20 rebounds in the first meeting between Purdue and U-M. Teske was tasked with guarding him one-on-one in the post, and Williams cashed in more times than not.

Since then, U-M has switched up its defensive strategy when it comes to guarding the post. Teske will have more help this time, but this will still be a matchup to watch.

Kenpom has predicted Purdue to beat Michigan, 67-65, and gives the Boilermakers a 57 percent chance of winning.

Q: Is Purdue a different team since the last time the two teams met?

BN: Well, I don't know if it really is, but since Purdue and Michigan last met, seniors Evan Boudreaux and Jahaad Proctor have become much more involved. They really came on starting a few games after that Michigan game and played their best basketball of their short Purdue careers thereafter. Neither are coming off a great performance vs. Wisconsin, but for the better part of a month, both have been pretty good. That said, there are defensive matchups that can be problematic for both, and Michigan could present some of those matchups.

Q: In what ways is Purdue a better team at home?

BN: They tend to play with more energy and do things with a little more purpose, although it may just seem more like it at home because it tends to not do those things as well on the road. Purdue tends to get off to much better starts to games at home, and has snowed several opponents under in the first 10 minutes. Purdue, like a lot of team, I'm sure, tends to shoot much better at home. There's no question Purdue is a better team at home, but it has shown some vulnerability in recent weeks because both Illinois and Penn State did win comfortably in West Lafayette.

Q: What would you say Purdue's biggest strength is right now?

BN: Good question. Purdue's not played its best basketball the past three games. Purdue has been a pretty solid defensive team all season, but it's lapsed quite a bit the past few game in a variety of ways, and those lapses have contributed to three straight opponents making way too many threes. The Boilermakers should be a good rebounding team, and generally have been when Kofi Cockburn isn't physically present. Trevion Williams and Matt Haarms are Purdue's strength from a personnel perspective, both both have had their ups and downs and there's a very distinct offense-defense tradeoff between the two, as Michigan should know better than anyone, because had Purdue had Haarms in the second half and the overtimes in Ann Arbor, Matt Painter would have been offense-defense to the point of obnoxiousness and Purdue probably would have stopped Zavier Simpson from getting downhill on ball screens at least once and had Purdue done that it would have won the game.

Q: How big of a game is this for Purdue?

BN: Well, they have no choice but to win, if that answers your question.

Q: What is your prediction for this game and why?

BN: I always like Purdue at home and while Trevion Williams isn't going to get 36 this time around, I think its reasonable to expect Purdue to be able to score enough to win. Again, Haarms makes a difference defensively. Now, Isaiah Livers can be a real problem for Purdue if he plays, because that position isn't Purdue's best defensively, and the three-point line has been killing Purdue lately. I think Purdue matches up OK with Michigan otherwise, and the home court is probably the difference. But I say that not really knowing where Purdue's head is right now. It's lost three straight and that puts them in sort of a tipping-point moment.

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