#5 Purdue Hosts Minnesota in Big Ten Opener

GAMEDAY INFO
Minnesota (4-3, 0-0 Big Ten) at [5] Purdue (7-0, 0-0 Big Ten)
West Lafayette, Indiana | Mackey Arena (14,876 / SOLD OUT)
TELEVISION: BTN | RADIO: Purdue Sports Network
TV ANNOUNCERS: Jeff Levering, Shon Morris

THE NOTES TO KNOW

• Purdue returns home to Mackey Arena for the first time in 19 days for a Sunday evening contest with Minnesota. Purdue’s last home game was a 75-70 decision over Marquette in the Gavitt Games on Nov. 15. It’s the longest stretch between home games that doesn’t include the December Holiday break since the 1997-98 season (22 days). 

• Purdue improved to 7-0 with a gritty 79-69 win over Florida State in Wednesday’s ACC / Big Ten Challenge. The win capped off a 4-game in 7-day stretch for Purdue that spanned from the Pacific Ocean (Portland) to the Atlantic Ocean (Tallahassee). 

• Purdue is now 7-0 for the second straight season after last year’s team started 8-0 and rose to No. 1 in the national rankings. Purdue is 7-0 (or better) for the second straight year for the first time since the 1992-93 (9-0 start; Matt Painter‘s senior year) and 1993-94 (14-0 start) seasons. 

• With the win over Florida State, Purdue finished with the Big Ten’s best record in Big Ten / ACC Challenge history with a 13-9 overall record.

• Purdue can claim America’s best resume, owning a nation’s-best four top-50 KenPom wins, all of them against teams ranked in the top 32. 

• Appearing at No. 5 in the AP Top 25, Purdue has been ranked in the top 5 in consecutive years for the first time since 1986-87 and 1987-88. The Boilermakers have spent 13 of the past 23 AP polls ranked in the top 5. Only Gonzaga (22) has spent more time in the top 5 than Purdue. 

• Purdue completed its second straight unbeaten November with the win over Florida State, now winning 14 straight games in the month of November. Only Arizona (23) has a longer November winning streak than Purdue. 

• The win was also Purdue’s nation’s-best 20th straight regular-season, non-conference victory, dating to a Dec. 8, 2020, setback to Miami (Fla.), 58-54. Purdue will have four more chances to add to that mark this season (Hofstra, Davidson, New Orleans, Florida A&M).

• The Boilermakers have won 11 of their last 13 Big Ten Conference openers, dating to the 2009-10 season.

• Purdue is 150-12 under…