It's seems only fitting that Minnesota and Purdue play each other in Saturday's regular-season finale for both teams. It's been a roller-coaster ride of late for both teams in conference play; both come in off tough losses in games they probably should have won.Minnesota, which upset No. 1 Indiana, 77-73, on Feb. 26 and followed that up with a 73-44 blowout of Penn State, limps in off a 53-51 loss at Nebraska on Wednesday. Cornhusker fans were so thrilled by that win -- only the team's fifth in 17 conference games -- that they actually stormed the court at the end. Meanwhile, Purdue, which upset No. 21 Wisconsin, 69-56, on the road Sunday, will try to rebound after blowing a 12-point, second-half lead in a 80-75 home loss to No. 8 Michigan on Wednesday. It's the only meeting between the Gophers and Boilermakers this season. Purdue won at Minnesota last year, 79-66.TV: 12 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network.ABOUT MINNESOTA (20-10, 8-9 Big Ten): The Gophers looked like potential Big Ten title contenders back in early January when they were ranked No. 8 in the nation and won at Illinois, 84-67. But they've lost seven straight road games since that victory over the Illini and are 5-9 overall in the same span. A loss at Purdue would give Minnesota its longest conference road losing streak since 1999-2000. The Gophers have struggled offensively on the road in Big Ten play and made 10-of-20 free throws in the loss to the Huskers while shooting 38 percent from the floor. Two starters -- guards Austin Hollins and forward Rodney Williams -- failed to score a point. Guard Andre Hollins (no relation) leads the Gophers in scoring with a 13.6 average, with Williams (10.4), Austin Hollins (10.4) and Trevor Mbakwe (10.2) also averaging in double figures. ABOUT PURDUE (14-16, 7-10): The Boilermakers lost their final chance to finish regular-season play above .500 with the loss to Michigan. The Wolverines scored 40 points in the final 11:07 to pull out the victory. Junior guard Terone Johnson had a career-best 32 points in the loss but committed a key turnover in the final seconds when Purdue had a chance to force overtime with a 3-pointer. Purdue outrebounded Michigan 42-30 after outrebounding Wisconsin 39-27 on Sunday. "I liked our effort," head coach Matt Painter told jconline.com. "Our execution wasn't great at times. We simply couldn't stop (Michigan) in the last eight minutes. Even when the ball got loose, Michigan made those plays. That was pretty important to their victory."TIP-INS1. A Purdue win would give Painter his 200th career coaching victory.2. Minnesota is averaging 48 points in its last six Big Ten road games.3. Painter was unsure if 6-9 junior F Sandi Marcius, who had a career-high 13 points against Michigan before spraining his right ankle, would be ready to play against Minnesota.PREDICTION: Minnesota 55, Purdue 51