Two big wins last week helped Minnesota maintain a slim chance of making the NCAA Tournament. But to make the Big Dance, the Golden Gophers will need to make some noise when they host No. 3 Purdue tonight.

“We’ve got to focus in on Purdue for the sheer passion of playing basketball,” Minnesota coach Tubby Smith said. “All the other stuff is gravy and icing on the cake. We know we’ve got to play a great game. … It is in our hands. If we want to be a team that gets into postseason play, we have to play great basketball, simple as that.”

To beat Purdue the Gophers will have to to keep the Boilermakers’ motion offense in check. Purdue leads the Big Ten in scoring, averaging 69.5 points per game in conference play.

“They have guys that can do so many things,” Smith said. “I’ve just been impressed with the way they play. They play so unselfishly and that’s why they’re a good team. … They’re a real challenge for us to guard in the half-court.”

Following the Purdue game, Minnesota will face a road challenge when it takes on Illinois at Assembly Hall. The Illini have been difficult to handle at home, posting a 12-2 record in Champaign, Ill., this season.

The Gophers head into their tough stretch with some confidence. After disappointing efforts against Michigan and Northwestern, Minnesota picked up a big victory Thursday, defeating No. 17 Wisconsin 68-52.

“It was a huge win,” Smith said. “Any time you have a chance to compete against a Bo Ryan-coached team, you know you’re going to have to give your best effort, and our kids did that.”

Though Minnesota’s defense mustered only five turnovers against Wisconsin, it held the Badgers to 30.5 percent from the field. That included limiting Wisconsin’s star forward Jon Leuer, who was playing in his first game back from a wrist injury, to just four points on 2-of-12 shooting. The Gophers also beat the Badgers on the glass 41-28.

Minnesota followed its victory over Wisconsin with another strong performance against Indiana. The Gophers outscored the Hoosiers 44-25 in the first half and never looked back in an 81-58 blowout win.

Now they hope to carry that momentum into their game against Purdue. The last time these two teams played, the Boilermakers won by 19. If that happens again, Minnesota will likely go to Assembly Hall playing for the NIT, not the NCAA Tournament.

Penn State gets first two Big Ten wins

Penn State went nearly two months without a win. From Dec. 21 through Feb. 17, the Nittany Lions lost 12 straight conference matchups, many in the final seconds.

A one-point loss at Illinois. A three-point loss at Iowa. An overtime loss at Wisconsin. A two-point loss at home against Minnesota.

Though the results were all defeats, Penn State coach Ed DeChellis saw the positives in his team’s performance.

“I didn’t think we were playing poorly,” DeChellis said. “We had stretches in our games where we didn’t execute and didn’t do some things and that cost us an opportunity to win.”

Penn State finally broke through Wednesday with a stunning 81-70 win at Northwestern.The Nittany Lions’ offensive explosion in Evanston marked their best point total in conference play. Penn State benefitted from a balanced scoring attack, as all five starters put up double-figures, including 20 points each from Chris Babb and David Jackson. The Nittany Lions then brought their newfound confidence to Ann Arbor, Mich., defeating Michigan 55-51.

“In the last two games, we made the timely shots we needed to,” DeChellis said. “We got a big rebound when we needed to, and we were able to walk away with two wins.”

The 51 points marked the fewest points the Nittany Lions have given up in a conference game all season. Penn State did it by holding Michigan to 35.8 percent from the field, including 21.4 percent from behind the arc.

Star guard Talor Battle finally received some support from his teammates after carrying the team for much of the season. He notched 10 points and seven rebounds against the Wildcats before posting 14 points and 11 rebounds versus the Wolverines.

“His stamina has improved,” DeChellis said. “He’s playing the same minutes he played last year, but he’s playing stronger. His body’s gotten better. He’s a stronger kid than he was last year.”

Battle is averaging 19 points and 5.6 rebounds per game in his junior campaign for the Nittany Lions.

“He’s had to do an unbelievable balancing act of ‘hey, when do I try to take the game over even more, when do I score?'” DeChellis said.

Battle and the Nittany Lions have a tough challenge ahead of them, as they take on Ohio State and Northwestern at home this week.[email protected]