Rutgers men’s basketball has virtually locked up a spot in the Big Ten Tournament, but tonight the Scarlet Knights will have a chance to erase any lingering doubt.
Steve Pikiell’s team will play No. 20 Purdue at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Indiana in its penultimate regular-season game hoping to punch its ticket to Indianapolis.
Rutgers, coming off a crushing road loss against Michigan, would still almost certainly make the tournament with a loss to the Boilermakers, but a defeat would leave a chance – albeit a small chance – of potentially missing the tournament, which will feature the Big Ten’s top 15 teams.
Penn State and Washington have already been eliminated.
There’s a strong chance that the Scarlet Knights would be the No. 11 seed, which could mean a meeting against potential No. 6 seed UCLA if Rutgers can win its opening round game (Minnesota is the likeliest opponent there at the moment). The Scarlet Knights beat the Bruins in Piscataway back in January, though Mick Cronin’s team is playing much better lately.
This season for Rutgers fell well short of expectations with two projected lottery picks in Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, but injuries and underperformance for significant portions of the season hampered the Scarlet Knights.
Rutgers, which hosts Minnesota on Sunday in its regular-season finale, has to hope for a miracle Big Ten Tournament run to secure a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
How to watch Rutgers vs. Purdue
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Streaming: Peacock
Big Ten Tournament outlook
Below is the bottom half of the Big Ten standings with remaining games for each team.
Ohio State 8-10 (has tiebreaker over Rutgers)
Remaining games: Tonight vs. Nebraska, Saturday at Indiana
Minnesota 7-11 (visits Rutgers March 9)
Remaining games: Wednesday vs. Wisconsin, Sunday at Rutgers
Nebraska 7-11 (Rutgers has tiebreaker)
Remaining games: Tonight at Ohio State, Sunday vs. Iowa
Rutgers 7-11
Remaining games: Tonight at Purdue, Sunday vs. Minnesota
Northwestern 7-12
Remaining games: Saturday at Maryland
Iowa 6-12 (has tiebreaker over Rutgers)
Remaining games: Thursday vs. Michigan State, Sunday at Nebraska
USC 6-12 (Rutgers has tiebreaker)
Remaining games: Wednesday vs. Washington, Saturday at UCLA
Penn State 5-14
Remaining games: Saturday at Wisconsin
Washington 4-14
Remaining games: Wednesday at USC, Sunday vs. Oregon
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Rutgers basketball vs Purdue: How to watch, Big Ten Tournament outlook
