The Purdue men's basketball team has weathered its share of trouble in the past two weeks.

The Boilermakers lost two starters, John Allison and Rodney Smith, both to foot injuries and are struggling with its longest losing streak in 10 years. Allison was the team's top rebounder and Smith was Purdue's top scorer.

The Penn State men's basketball team has great timing as the Nittany Lions (15-7, 5-6 Big Ten) face the Boilermakers at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at The Bryce Jordan Center.

The Lions are coming off an 82-62 shellacking of an injury-ailed Minnesota team on Wednesday in a game that saw 6-foot-8 junior forward Tyler Smith and sophomore guard Brandon Watkins play tremendously well in the win. Penn State's senior big man Gyasi Cline-Heard continued his torrent of consistent play as he led the Lions with 21 points.

"We're on our way," Smith said following the Minnesota game. "We're on a roll and we're feeling good about ourselves."

On the other hand, Purdue can't be feeling to good about themselves and their team heading into the stretch run of the conference schedule.

The Boilermakers have dropped their last four games and are facing a three-game road trip that begins Saturday at Penn State, Iowa and then finishes with Michigan. After starting the conference season with three straight wins, Purdue has hit a roadblock, struggling with a 2-7 record since Jan. 13.

Although the Boilermakers have hit hard times with its leading rebounder, shot blocker and scorer sitting on the sidelines with injuries, Purdue has tried to keep its head up and work through the problems.

"The good thing about our situation now is that a lot of young kids are getting valuable experience, and although you may not see it now, this will pay off next year," Purdue men's basketball coach Gene Keady said. "From what I've seen, the kids are great. They seem very mature. I haven't seen any pouting and they're not hanging their heads."

Fans heading to The Bryce Jordan Center will not only be treated to a Big Ten clash on Saturday, but at 11 a.m., the annual Penn State Nittany Lion Basketball Alumni game will take place. The game will include many former Penn State standouts, including former Penn State basketball star Ron Brown, Brian Allen and current Lions assistant coach Christian Appleman.