Listen to what fans had to say on the postgame call-in show on WDWS here.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue coach Matt Painter was one of the first coaches to recruit Mike Tisdale.

But Painter knew that if Illinois offered Tisdale, a lifelong Illini fan, he would probably choose the Illini. On Tuesday at Mackey Arena, Tisdale helped the Illini to a 71-67 overtime upset of No. 9 Purdue.

Tisdale scored a team-high 18 points as Illinois (13-1) beat a Top-10 opponent for the first time since Jan. 5, 2006 (No. 7 Michigan State). The teams' Big Ten opener was televised on ESPN2, which could help the program's chances of returning to the national polls.

Illinois (13-1, 1-0), which plays at Michigan on Sunday, before the polls are released, hasn't been ranked since the final poll of the 2005-06 season.

Tisdale fouled out with 2:05 left in regulation, but his teammates finished off Purdue's (11-3, 0-1) fourth home loss since the start of the 2006-07 season. And it took almost all of the Illini to beat the Boilers.

Mike Davis and Alex Legion had 12 points apiece for Illinois. JaJuan Johnson had a chance to win the game in regulation for Purdue (11-3). He was fouled with 1.9 seconds left and made one of two free throws to send the game to overtime.

Trailing 60-56 to start overtime, Illinois went on a 9-0 run to take command. The Illini committed only one turnover in the second half and in overtime, a remarkable number given Purdue's pressure defense.

Illinois improved to 8-3 in overtime games under Illinois coach and longtime Purdue assistant Bruce Weber. The Illini also let it be known they will be a player in a Big Ten race that has no clear favorite.

10:00 Left in Regulation - Illinois 39, Purdue 37

- Marcus Jackson pointed out that Illinois had zero free throw attempts in the first half, while Purdue shot 11 freebies (and made six). For the record, Illinois is 5-1 when it shoots fewer free throws than its opponent. Strange.

- Lewis Jackson has been held in check and scored his first Big Ten points with 16:53 remaining.

- As Purdue's coach, Matt Painter is 3-2 against Illinois. He also attended Illini basketball camps as a kid. As Illinois' coach, Weber is 2-2 in games at Purdue.

- Illini superfan Dan Grossman checks in via text message: Dr. Grossman and his brother, Dr. Aaron Grossman just got off the slopes in California - tough gig, fellas - and are pleased to see the score. Dr. Pat Basu gets a nod as well.

We're nice to doctors, especially those who buy post-game beers when they're in town.

- The No. 13 John Wooden jersey hangs from the rafters. The Wizard was an All-Big Ten pick in 1930, 1931 and 1932.

- The three guys who might be having the most fun: C.J. Jackson, Stan Simpson and Bubba Chisholm. The raised courts and limited bench seating means two of them are seated on the floor, but they've enjoyed Illinois' play thus far.

- His statistical contributions aren't outstanding, but Dominique Keller has made an impact off the bench. Solid game for the juco transfer.

- An Illinois win would snap a two-game losing skid at Mackey.

- A pair of questionable foul calls on Purdue has Painter steamed. The crowd wasn't fond of an over-and-back call that wasn't called. The noisy reaction, Marcus Jackson points out, probably means Illinois won't get many 50-50 calls down the stretch.

Loren Tate made the point before the game that there really hasn't been an Illinois game this season where the officiating was bad. And Loren will let you know when it is.

- The Paint Crew - Purdue's student section - is imploring Bruce Weber to remain the coaches box: "Off the court! Off the court!"

- Looks like Klee's prediction - Illinois 66, Purdue 64 - will come up short, at least as the final score is concerned.

Check back for the post-game wrap. And send any headline ideas, we're open to your suggestions.

Klee

Halftime - Illinois 26, Purdue 23

As for the equation - "41 + 24 = 65" - here's the answer.

Tom emails a guess: "Does it mean the number of automatic picks that make the tournament plus the number of extra teams picked to play in the tournament?"

Dave emails a guess: "The numbers on the T-shirts represent the numbers for the NCAA tourney. Number of at-large bids and conference champs."

Close, Tom and Dave. Very close.

Here's what Bruce Weber came up with....

41: The Illini's magic number on the "Matto" chart, aka, the "Play Hard" chart. When Illinois reaches 41 on the Matto, they like their chances of winning. For example, they didn't shoot well against Eastern Michigan on Sunday, but they had a 42 on the Matto chart, which helped them to a win.

24: The number of wins that Weber believes can get them in the NCAA tournament. I'm sure he would take 25 or 26, but that's the magic number he's set forth.

65: The number of teams in the NCAA tournament. Hence, 41 (Matto) plus 24 (wins) equals 65 (the start of a series of NCAA berths that doesn't figure to stop any time soon, with the way Illinois has recruited).

Hopefully that makes sense. Good stuff right there from Bruce Weber.

- Before the game, a few thousand Matt Painter masks were put the seats in the lower bowl at Mackey. You've probably seen it on ESPN2. Catchy idea.

- One thing that has stood out about Alex Legion over the past 12 months - he's a big, big guard. Listed at 6-5, and all of that. The UK transfer is playing with more confidence today - he has six points - and I think he'll become a bigger part of the rotation over the next few games.

A Detroit-area product, Legion returns to his homestate of Michigan for a game against the Wolverines on Sunday. Here's the story on Legion's commitment to Michigan. One man's guess: the final decision - Legion playing at Illinois - is going to work out quite well for Legion and the Illini.

- Leading Player of the Game candidates: JaJuan Johnson (9 points and 5 rebounds) and Mike Tisdale (8 points and 5 boards).

- But here's the stat that stands out: Illinois has not trailed at halftime this season. Probably says something about their advanced scouting.

Check back in a few.

Klee

9:00 Left in First Half - Illinois 14, Purdue 12

- Matt Painter isn't afraid to go out on a limb. We knew that. And his decision to start Bobby Riddell, a former walk-on at Purdue, paid off quickly. The Lafayette product hit a 3-pointer - Purdue's first field goal - to get the crowd fired up. Illinois was leading 6-1 when that happened, and Riddell's shot turned the tide.

- According to one NBA scout in the offseason, sophomore JaJuan Johnson is viewed as the Boilers' top NBA prospect. That would have come as a surprise to some. Johnson scored in three ways in the first six minutes: a short jumper, a dunk, and a jumper out near the three-point line.

- This is not a comfortable game for Weber and Painter. Painter, of course, played under Weber at Purdue and later assisted Weber at SIU. Then you have UI assistant Jay Price, a former Purdue assistant, and Purdue assistant Jack Owens, a former SIU assistant.

- About 2 hours before the game, Jack Owens put Purdue freshman John Hart through a redshirt workout. Owens said Hart's speciality is his shooting ability. The guard from Beech Grove, Ind., played 22 minutes in Purdue's two exhibition games.

Illinois has chosen not to announce the decision to redshirt freshman Stan Simpson. Meanwhile, Purdue announced that Hart will be redshirted. Just a difference in the programs' approach. No big deal.

- Mike Tisdale deserves credit for the way he's started today, and recently. The sophomore center has averaged 19.3 points and 6.3 boards in the past four games.

Tisdale has eight points and isn't backing down. Weber said Illinois' toughness would be one of the keys today.

"The one thing that Duke did when they went in and beat them, every punch that Purdue threw, they threw one right back," Weber said yesterday. "Can we do that? That will determine the game."

Check back in a few.

Klee

Tipoff - Illinois (12-1) at No. 9 Purdue (11-2)

- Illinois coach Bruce Weber, who is never at a loss for motivational tactics, came up with a new math formula that he hopes will equate to an NCAA tournament berth.

For their  pre-pre-game shootaround, the Illini wore t-shirts with the equation "41 + 24 = 65."

I'll give you a second to think about it. Send me your guesses and we'll post them at halftime (with the answer.) It's not an easy riddle. Not surprising, Jerrance Howard had to explain it to me.

- Seems the News-Gazette has served up some motivation as well - for both teams. The N-G's prediction today was pointed out to the Boilers. And we didn't put Illinois on our Top 25 ballot, which several of the Illini players made note of. Moral of the story: newspapers, in fact, aren't dead!

- Our co-pilot today, N-G star Marcus Jackson, knows his way around the Purdue campus. Purdue baseball coach Doug Schreiber offered Jackson a baseball scholarship. The centerfielder, an All-Star selection in the E.I. League last season, chose Eastern Illinois over Purdue.

- On a drive around campus before the game, we also saw the girl that attends Purdue.

- Big crowd. Has to be near a sellout (14,123). It's a sea of black shirts, with dots of orange mixed in.

- Starting lineup for Illinois: Chester Frazier, Demetri McCamey, Trent Meacham (the Co-Big Ten Player of the Week), Mike Davis and Mike Tisdale. This is the 11th consecutive game Weber has used this lineup.

- Starting lineup for Purdue: Lewis Jackson, Bobby Riddell (a surprise starter getting his first career start), E'Twaun Moore (also a Big Ten Player of the Week this season), Robbie Hummel (a two-time Big Ten Player of the Week this season) and JaJuan Johnson.

Check back in a few. Thanks for reading.

Klee

30 Minutes Until Tipoff - Illinois (12-1) at No. 9 Purdue (11-2)

Good evening everyone. Thanks for coming by our Live In-Game Report. Paul Klee here, joined by Marcus Jackson, from inside Mackey Arena. We'll stick around throughout the game, so feel free to send us questions or comments, we'll get them on the Live Report.

Really looking forward to this one. A few of the storylines:

- First, Lewis Jackson. Klee caught up with Jackson on the phone yesterday, and you can read about our conversation with the Decatur Eisenhower product here.

Not surprising, Lewis Jackson was the first player on the court this afternoon. He shot jumpers about 2 hours before tipoff and figures to be keyed up for his first matchup - and first Big Ten game - against the homestate school that didn't really go after him.

Purdue loves Lewis Jackson. Can't overstate that enough. They feel he gives them another gear that they wouldn't otherwise have. To prepare Jackson for the rigors of Big Ten ball, the coaches made him offseason weightlifting partners with hard-working Chris Kramer over the summer.

- Chris Kramer has a story to tell. The Purdue guard is Purdue's Chester Frazier, playing through sometimes-extreme pain. He suffers from a rare leg condition called "compartment syndrome." (As you can see, I'm not a doctor.)

You can watch our video interview with Kramer here, and he speaks at length about the condition. At one point, the pain was so great that, on an offseason run with the Boilers, he lost the feeling in his feet and fell down a hill.

- The Illinois coaches have been on the recruiting road much of this week, with all of the holiday torunaments going on. Jerrance Howard, for example, attended eight prep games in three days. Tomorrow they'll be in to see committed prospects Brandon Paul, Jereme Richmond and Tracy Abrams, among others.

- Robbie Hummel is the Boiler that concerns Illinois. Since Brian Randle is gone, they don't have a suitable matchup for Hummel, the Big Ten's preseason Player of the Year.

- Hummel would be on our "Nonconference All-Big Ten team" that we listed in today's N-G.

- I've been asked this often, but still haven't come up with a good comparison for Alex Legion. Here's one: E'Twaun Moore. Now, don't go crazy with it, because he's not yet the caliber of the Purdue star, but they have similar types of games, similar scorer's mentalities. If Legion turns out like Moore, Illinois would be more than pleased.

- Against 9th-ranked Purdue, Illinois is looking for its first win against a Top-10 opponent since Jan. 5, 2006 (No. 7 Michigan State). The Illini are loose and playing with very little pressure this week. Instead of looking at back-to-back road games to start Big Ten play as a negative, Bruce Weber has presented the scenario as an opportunity: if you lose both, it's expected. But if you steal one (or both), you're a step ahead of the crowd.

Check back in a few.

Klee (pklee@news-gazette.com