Wolverines to Welcome No. 5 Purdue for Super Tuesday Matchup

» Michigan enters Tuesday's game riding a seven-game winning streak, while Purdue has won its last 11 straight.
» In his last two games, Isaiah Livers has averaged 12.5 points, 1.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists while shooting an amazing 76.9 percent from the field (10-for-13) and 83.3 percent from long range (5-for-6).
» Zavier Simpson was re-inserted into the starting lineup against Illinois. He has had three games with seven assists in his last five games.
» American Idol star Jena Irene is scheduled to sing the national anthem.

THIS WEEK
Tuesday, Jan. 9 -- No. 5 Purdue, 9 p.m. (ESPN, Super Tuesday)
Saturday, Jan. 13 -- at No. 4 Michigan State, Noon (FOX)
Monday, Jan, 15 -- Maryland, 6:30 p.m. (FS1)

The University of Michigan men's basketball team (14-3; 3-1 B1G) opens this week hosting its first of two top-five ranked teams as the Wolverines play No. 5 Purdue (15-2; 4-0 B1G) in a Super Tuesday, Jan. 9, matchup at Crisler Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 9 p.m. with the game broadcast on BTN.

THE SERIES WITH PURDUE
• The game marks the 157th all-time meeting and will be the first of two regular-season games. The Wolverines play a return game on Jan. 25 at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette.
• U-M trails in the overall series with a 69-87 record. However, the Maize and Blue have won three of the last four meetings.
• Michigan is 42-33 record in games played in Ann Arbor, including a current four-game winning streak. Purdue's last win at Crisler Center was a 75-61 victory on Feb. 25, 2012.
• U-M head coach John Beilein is 9-9 against Purdue. After starting 2-6 against the Boilermakers, Beilein and his Wolverines have won seven of the last 10 meetings.

A LITTLE ABOUT THE BOILERMAKERS
• Purdue (15-2; 4-0 B1G) is on an 11-game winning streak. The Boilermakers only losses of the season were in back-to-back games in the Battle 4 Atlantis -- a 78-58 OT setback vs. Tennessee and a 77-73 loss to Western Kentucky. Other than those two setbacks, Purdue has won by an average of 22.8 per game this season.
• A veteran Big Ten squad, Purdue's offense features four double-figure Boilermakers. Sophomore guard Carsen Edwards leads with 16.8 points per game, while senior forward Isaac Haas (14.7), senior forward Vincent Edwards (14.1) and senior guard Dakota Mathias (13.3) are just behind. The group makes up almost 70 percent of Purdue's point production.
• Mathias (43), Edwards (34) and senior guard P.J. Thompson (32) have combined for 109 of Purdue's 160 three-pointers -- nearly 70 percent

INSIDE MICHIGAN BASKETBALL
• Michigan has won its last seven straight games. The streak is the longest in the regular season since the 2013-14 season where the Wolverines clipped off 10 straight. It should be noted if you added in posteason, the Wolverines closed last season winning seven of its final eight games during its magical run in the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments.
• With a team-best 59 assists (3.5 apg), Muhammad-Al Abdur-Rahkman is second nationally with a 5.90 assist-to-turnover ratio. He has just 10 total turnovers.
• Abdur-Rahkman is slowly making his was 1,000 career points. He has 972 total -- just 28 away from becoming the 52nd 1,000-point Wolverine.
• After an ankle injury suffered at Texas held Moritz Wagner back from two games and after two games adjusting, he got back to double-figure scoring with 14 points (6-for-7) vs. Illinois, while adding seven rebounds.
• Zavier Simpson was re-inserted into the starting lineup against Illinois. He opened the season starting the first four games and played the next 12 off the bench. With seven assists in three of his last five games, Simpson is no second on U-M with 56 assists (3.3 apg).
• U-M's opponents are averaging just 5.3 three-pointers per game. In the first four games, the Wolverines allowed 32 triples (8.0 per game), however, buckled down over the last 12 games allowing 58 three-pointers for a 4.8 per game average. Overall, U-M has held an opponent to five-or-fewer triples in 10 games with a season-low two by Indiana.

THE KALAMAZOO KID
• Isaiah Livers continues to show signs of playing above his freshman status. This past week, the Kalamazoo, Michigan, native had a pair of breakout performances with a career-best 13 points at Iowa, which helped snap a five game losing streak against the Hawkeyes. He followed with 12 points more in the comeback win over Illinois as his nine points, including three dunks, during a U-M 12-2 run, helped the Wolverines erase an eight-point deficit and go on for the 79-69 victory.
• Over his past two games, Livers has averaged 12.5 points, 1.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists while shooting an amazing 76.9 percent from the field (10-for-13) and 83.3 percent from long range (5-for-6). He added a career-best three assists and career-best two steals against the Hawkeyes.
• The reigning Michigan Mr. Basketball, Livers has come off the bench in every game this season in a rotation with Duncan Robinson at the four spot. He averages 4.1 points and 2.6 rebounds in 13.4 minutes per game while shooting 51.8 percent from the field and 40.7 percent from deep.

HOW ABOUT THIS
• After going 1-for-6 vs. Detroit Mercy, scoring just two points, Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman made a switch back to his pink colored Jordan 31s and has been on fire the last four games. He has scored in double figures in each game including a season-best 20 against Jacksonville. He has shot 60.0 percent from the field (21-for-35) and 52.6 percent from deep (10-for-19). He has added 4.3 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 1.3 steals. If you remember, Abdur-Rahkman wore those same pink shoes during last season's dramatic postseason run in the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments.
• Despite a career-best 15 points and four steals in the overtime win against UCLA, Zavier Simpson did not record an assist in that game. Since that game, he has posted 33 assists (4.7 apg) over his next six games. That tally is more than half of his total 56 on the season as he had 23 in the first 11 games. During his run, he has posted three games with seven assists and two of those with zero turnovers -- vs. Detroit Mercy and at Iowa.
• Michigan's free throw numbers have been lower than usual this season as the Wolverines are shooting 64.7 on the season. However, over the last two games, U-M went 8-for-10 (80%) at Iowa and had a season-best 19-for-24 (79.2%) against Illinois.