Credit to: purduesports.com
GAMEDAY INFORMATION — GAME 08
[1] Purdue (7-0 / 0-0 Big Ten) vs. Northwestern (5-1 / 0-0 Big Ten)
9:00 p.m. ET | Evanston, Illinois
Welsh-Ryan Arena | 7,183
TELEVISION: BTN (Kevin Kugler, Robbie Hummel, Andy Katz)
RADIO: Purdue Global Radio Network (Rob Blackman, Bobby Riddell)
THE NOTES TO KNOW
• The No. 1-ranked Boilermakers will open Big Ten play Friday night at the place that handed Purdue its last loss as the top-ranked team when the Boilermakers held to Evanston, Illinois, to face Northwestern. This marks the first of two meetings in the 2023-24 season as the Wildcats will visit Mackey Arena on Jan. 31, 2024.
• Purdue owns an 11-4 overall record as the No. 1 team in the country after defeating Texas Southern 99-67 on Tuesday night. One of the losses came a year ago on Super Bowl Sunday when the Wildcats rallied for a physical, 64-58 victory over Purdue. The Boilermakers are looking to avenge that loss and start 1-0 in Big Ten play, while winning their sixth game in their last seven trips to Welsh-Ryan Arena.
• Purdue owns a 13-5 record in Big Ten openers under Matt Painter, including a 58-44 win over Northwestern in the 2019-20 opener. Purdue has won four straight league openers and is 5-1 in its last six conference openers on the road.
• Purdue’s 65 wins since the start of the 2021-22 season are the fourth most in the country (Houston – 72, Kansas – 68, Arizona – 67, Purdue – 65, Duke – 64, Gonzaga – 64, UCLA – 62). Among Big Ten teams, Iowa (50) and Wisconsin (50) are next on the list.
• Purdue was voted No. 1 in the AP Top 25 poll on Monday, the third straight year that the Boilermakers have been ranked No. 1. Prior to the 2021-22 season, Purdue had never been ranked No. 1. Purdue is the first Big Ten program to be ranked No. 1 in three straight seasons.
• Since the start of the 2021-22 season, Purdue has spent nine weeks ranked at No. 1, tied for the most in the country with Gonzaga.
• With its No. 1 ranking this week, Purdue has been ranked in the top 5 of the AP poll for 20 straight weeks, the longest-active streak in America by 11 weeks (Kansas – 9). It has been ranked in the top 3 in 15 of those 20 weeks.
• Matt Painter ranks fifth on the Big Ten’s list for career wins with 420, needing just one victory to tie Illinois legend Lou Henson for fourth (421). On the Big Ten games-only chart, Painter is seventh (209 wins), needing one win to tie Indiana’s Branch McCracken (210).
• Zach Edey was named the Big Ten Player of the Week on Monday for the seventh time in his career. It ties a school record set by Glenn Robinson and now trails just Ohio State’s Evan Turner (10) and Michigan State’s Cassius Winston (8) on the career list.
• Lance Jones will return home to play a game in Evanston for the first time since his high school days. The grad transfer from Southern Illinois is enjoying a big season (10.3 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 2.9 APG). He expects to have at least 30 family and friends in attendance Friday.
• Braden Smith is off to an outstanding start and has firmly planted himself in early All-America discussions. Smith dished out his 200th career assist (in just 42 games) on Tuesday and leads the nation’s sophomores (or younger) in career assists. He has flirted with a pair of triple-doubles and is the nation’s only underclassman (soph. or younger) to average at least 13.0 PPG, 6.0 APG and 5.0 RPG.
• Over the last two games, Purdue is 23-of-46 (.500) from 3-point range and now ranks fourth nationally in 3-point percentage (.428).
• Purdue has outscored its opponents by 73 points at the free throw line, the second-highest margin in the country (Weber State; +75). A year ago, Purdue led the country in free throw margin (+249) by 58 points (Texas A&M; +191).
• A year ago, Purdue became the first team since Wisconsin in 2015 to win an outright Big Ten regular-season title and the Big Ten Tournament title in the same season. Purdue became the first team in Big Ten history to win the regular-season title by at least three games and win the Big Ten Tournament in the same season. No team since Michigan State (1999, 2000) has won consecutive Big Ten Tournament and outright regular-season championships.
• Purdue is in search for its 26th Big Ten Championship, already owning the most Big Ten titles in league history. Should Purdue win the Big Ten title in 2024, it will mark its fourth title in the last eight seasons and back-to-back titles for the first time since 1994-95-96.
• Purdue owns an 11-4 overall record as the No. 1 team in the country after defeating Texas Southern 99-67 on Tuesday night. One of the losses came a year ago on Super Bowl Sunday when the Wildcats rallied for a physical, 64-58 victory over Purdue. The Boilermakers are looking to avenge that loss and start 1-0 in Big Ten play, while winning their sixth game in their last seven trips to Welsh-Ryan Arena.
• Purdue owns a 13-5 record in Big Ten openers under Matt Painter, including a 58-44 win over Northwestern in the 2019-20 opener. Purdue has won four straight league openers and is 5-1 in its last six conference openers on the road.
• Purdue’s 65 wins since the start of the 2021-22 season are the fourth most in the country (Houston – 72, Kansas – 68, Arizona – 67, Purdue – 65, Duke – 64, Gonzaga – 64, UCLA – 62). Among Big Ten teams, Iowa (50) and Wisconsin (50) are next on the list.
• Purdue was voted No. 1 in the AP Top 25 poll on Monday, the third straight year that the Boilermakers have been ranked No. 1. Prior to the 2021-22 season, Purdue had never been ranked No. 1. Purdue is the first Big Ten program to be ranked No. 1 in three straight seasons.
• Since the start of the 2021-22 season, Purdue has spent nine weeks ranked at No. 1, tied for the most in the country with Gonzaga.
• With its No. 1 ranking this week, Purdue has been ranked in the top 5 of the AP poll for 20 straight weeks, the longest-active streak in America by 11 weeks (Kansas – 9). It has been ranked in the top 3 in 15 of those 20 weeks.
• Matt Painter ranks fifth on the Big Ten’s list for career wins with 420, needing just one victory to tie Illinois legend Lou Henson for fourth (421). On the Big Ten games-only chart, Painter is seventh (209 wins), needing one win to tie Indiana’s Branch McCracken (210).
• Zach Edey was named the Big Ten Player of the Week on Monday for the seventh time in his career. It ties a school record set by Glenn Robinson and now trails just Ohio State’s Evan Turner (10) and Michigan State’s Cassius Winston (8) on the career list.
• Lance Jones will return home to play a game in Evanston for the first time since his high school days. The grad transfer from Southern Illinois is enjoying a big season (10.3 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 2.9 APG). He expects to have at least 30 family and friends in attendance Friday.
• Braden Smith is off to an outstanding start and has firmly planted himself in early All-America discussions. Smith dished out his 200th career assist (in just 42 games) on Tuesday and leads the nation’s sophomores (or younger) in career assists. He has flirted with a pair of triple-doubles and is the nation’s only underclassman (soph. or younger) to average at least 13.0 PPG, 6.0 APG and 5.0 RPG.
• Over the last two games, Purdue is 23-of-46 (.500) from 3-point range and now ranks fourth nationally in 3-point percentage (.428).
• Purdue has outscored its opponents by 73 points at the free throw line, the second-highest margin in the country (Weber State; +75). A year ago, Purdue led the country in free throw margin (+249) by 58 points (Texas A&M; +191).
• A year ago, Purdue became the first team since Wisconsin in 2015 to win an outright Big Ten regular-season title and the Big Ten Tournament title in the same season. Purdue became the first team in Big Ten history to win the regular-season title by at least three games and win the Big Ten Tournament in the same season. No team since Michigan State (1999, 2000) has won consecutive Big Ten Tournament and outright regular-season championships.
• Purdue is in search for its 26th Big Ten Championship, already owning the most Big Ten titles in league history. Should Purdue win the Big Ten title in 2024, it will mark its fourth title in the last eight seasons and back-to-back titles for the first time since 1994-95-96.
