Is Ace Bailey playing today? Exploring Rutgers star's availability vs Purdue (Jan 9)

Ace Bailey has a healthy status going into tonight's game against the No. 20 Purdue Boilermakers. He has played in the last 13 contests for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. The confirmation of his participation in the matchup will be known before the 6:00 p.m. ET tip-off.

Bailey is halfway through the first year of his collegiate career. He has performed at a high level, tag-teaming with freshman co-star Dylan Harper as a dynamic duo for the Scarlet Knights.

How Ace Bailey has played for Rutgers so far

Ace Bailey has progressively improved throughout the first half of the 2024-25 season, becoming one of Rutgers' key performers going into conference play.

After 13 games, Bailey is averaging 19.1 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.2 blocks, and a steal per contest. He is shooting 46.3% (33.9% from beyond the arc).

Last week, he earned the first award of his college career. After dropping a career-high 39 points on 16-for-29 shooting overall against Indiana on Jan. 2, the Big Ten recognized his efforts by awarding him co-Freshman of the Week. He shared it with Illinois' Kasparas Jakucionis.

Rutgers currently holds an 8-7 record on the season. They put up 78.2 points on 45.2% shooting (32.7% from the 3-point line), getting past teams by a slim margin of 3.2 points per game.

Aside from Bailey, Dylan Harper plays a major role in the Scarlet Knights' success with numbers of 21.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.1 steals per contest. Lathan Sommerville, Jeremiah Williams, and Jordan Derkack come next in the scoring department with more than seven points each.

They face a 20th-ranked Purdue squad that is 11-4 on the season, having an active win streak of three games. They score 77.4 points on shooting splits of 48.8% overall and 39.6% from downtown, beating opponents by 7.6 points per game. Trey Kaufman-Renn, Braden Smith, and Fletcher Loyer present themselves as the team's scoring trio, combining for 47.2 points of the Boilermakers offense.

After this game, Bailey and the Scarlet Knights will remain home when they host the UCLA Bruins at the Jersey Mike's Arena on Monday at 6:30 p.m. ET.