| WEEKEND STREAMING GUIDE (all times ET) |
| Men's Basketball |
| Sunday / 4 p.m. / at Northwestern / CBS |
| Women's Basketball |
| Friday / 2:30 p.m. / Indiana / BTN |
| Saturday / 4 p.m. / Big Ten Tournament Semifinals / BTN |
| Sunday / 7 p.m. / Big Ten Tournament Championship / ESPN3 |
| Wrestling |
| Saturday / 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. / Big Ten Championships / BTN Plus |
| Sunday / Noon and 3 p.m. / Big Ten Championships / BTN Plus |
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Men's basketball captured its Big Ten-leading 23rd regular-season conference championship with an 86-75 win over Indiana on Feb. 28 at a juiced Mackey Arena.
And with second-place Wisconsin's loss to Iowa last night, the No. 16 Boilermakers (24-6, 13-4 B1G) claimed the title outright. Purdue concludes the regular season at Northwestern (21-9, 10-7) on Sunday. Tipoff is 4:30 p.m.ET, and the game will be televised by CBS. The Boilermakers, who have won seven of eight, are the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, which will take place March 8 to 12 at Verizon Center in Washington D.C. Their first game will be March 10.
Purdue won its second conference championship in the last eight seasons (also 2010). Only Ohio State has won more Big Ten regular-season titles (three) during that span. The outright title is the Boilermakers' first since 1996.
Purdue finished the season with an 8-1 home record against Big Ten opponents and is a Big Ten-best 24-3 against conference foes over the last three seasons.
Meanwhile, sophomore forward Caleb Swanigan has been named one of 10 finalists for the Naismith Award, which is presented to the nation's top collegiate player. The list will be cut to four March 19, with the winner announced April 2 at the Final Four. A bona fide National Player of the Year and All-America candidate, Swanigan leads the nation with 24 double-doubles and is averaging 18.6 points and 12.5 rebounds per game.
In addition, Swanigan has been named a second team Academic All-American. He boasts a 3.30 grade-point average in general education-educational studies and is one of merely three sophomores to be selected among 15 honorees. Swanigan is the Boilermakers' first Academic All-American since E'Twaun Moore was a second-team pick in 2010.
More Big Ten Champs
Purdue celebrated seven individual Big Ten championships Feb. 25.
In men's swimming & diving, junior Marat Amaltdinov won the 200 breaststroke, while redshirt sophomore Steele Johnson was victorious in platform diving.
Women's track & field athletes won five titles: redshirt junior Devynne Charlton (60-meter dash and 60-meter hurdles), sophomore Janae' Moffitt (high jump) and junior Brionna Thomas (400-meter dash), plus the 4x400-meter relay of freshman Chloe Abbott, junior Symone Black, Thomas and Jahneya Mitchell.
Charlton also finished second in the 200-meter dash and was named the Track Athlete of the Championships for the second straight year. She is the first repeat winner since 2012.
The 60-meter dash and 60-meter hurdles have been contested at the Big Ten Championships since 1999, and Charlton is just the second runner to win both at the same meet. She is the only winner of the two events in Purdue history.
The women's track & field team finished second for the second straight year.
Women's Basketball Marches On
Women's basketball defeated Illinois 72-58 yesterday in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament at Banker's Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
The fifth-seeded Boilermakers (20-11) take on intrastate rival and fourth-seeded Indiana (20-9) at 2:30 p.m. ET today in the quarterfinals. Purdue and the Hoosiers tied for fourth place in the regular-season standings.
Purdue has reached the 20-win plateau for the second straight season and for the eighth time under 11th-year head coach Sharon Versyp. Yesterday's win was the Boilermakers' Big Ten-leading 40th in conference tournament play. Their .755 winning percentage (40-13) is second only to Maryland's 1.000 over just six games.
Senior guard Ashley Morrissette earned first team All-Big Ten and Big Ten All-Defensive Team honors, becoming merely the third player in program history to earn both in the same season (also Kelly Komara in 2002 and Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton in 2007). Morrissette averaged 16.0 points, 3.6 rebounds and 4.6 assists with 75 steals during the regular season.
Wrestling at Big Ten Championships
Six wrestlers have earned a pre-seed for the Big Ten Championships. The two-day tournament will take place in Bloomington, Indiana, tomorrow and Sunday.
The highest pre-seeded awarded was No. 7 to redshirt junior Jacob Morrissey. The 174-pounder owns a 6-3 record against the probable competitors. Redshirt junior Luke Welch and freshman Christian Brunner were tabbed No. 8 at 133 and 197 pounds, respectively.
In addition, redshirt senior Alex Griffin is No. 10 at 157 pounds, redshirt senior Tanner Lynde No. 11 at 184 and redshirt senior Kyle Ayersman No. 12 at 141.
Brackets are scheduled to be released today.
The Boilermakers finished the regular season with a 9-7 record, including a 3-6 Big Ten mark, and were ranked No. 25 in the final national poll.
Meitz, Kitchel Earn NCAA Invites
Junior Kaersten Meitz and sophomore Taite Kitchel will represent the Boilermakers at the NCAA Women's Swimming & Diving Championships, which will take place March 15 to 18 in Indianapolis.
Meitz qualified for the third straight year, ranking among the top 25 nationally in the 200 and 500 freestyle. Kitchel earned her bid via the 200 butterfly. Meitz also will be eligible to compete in the 1,650 free. The 100 fly and 200 individual medley are optional races for Kitchel at the national championship meet.
Divers earn their NCAA berths based on their performances at the Zone Championships. Purdue annually competes at the Zone C meet, set this year for March 9 to 11 in Bloomington, Indiana.
Men's Tennis Upsets No. 23 Illinois
Men's tennis remained undefeated at home this season with a 4-3 upset of No. 23 Illinois on March 1.
The Boilermakers (9-5, 1-0) are 9-0 at the Schwartz Tennis Center.
Against Illinois, freshman Athell Bennett won the deciding match 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) at No. 6 singles.
On Sunday, Purdue plays at No. 37 Indiana (8-4, 0-1), with a point at stake in the Governor's Cup competition.
Men's Swimming & Diving B1G Championships Recap
Conference championships for junior Marat Amaltdinov and redshirt sophomore Steele Johnson, along with five program records, highlighted the 2017 Big Ten Championships for men's swimming & diving.
Twenty Boilermakers accounted for team points in an individual event, including seven that scored in all three of their events. Amaltdinov repeated as the Big Ten champion in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 1:52.89. Johnson was victorious in platform diving (547.80) for his first career conference title. Johnson won bronze on 3-meter and finished in the top four of all three diving events. He was Purdue's top scorer, accounting for 85 points. Amaltdinov also won the B final of the 100 breast to account for 52 points, third-best on the team.
Freshman Brandon Loschiavo also medaled for the Boilermakers, finishing third in the platform diving competition. He also qualified for the championship final of 1-meter and won the consolation final of 3-meter, accounting for 71 points to rank second on the squad.
Purdue finished in sixth place in the team scoring.
To read a complete recap of the championships, click here.
National championship meet invitations for men's swimmers will be announced next week. Amaltdinov locked up a berth with an NCAA automatic qualifying time while winning the 200 breaststroke at Big Tens.
Etcetera
Baseball (3-4) plays a three-game series at Southeast Missouri State today through Sunday. The Redhawks are three-time defending regular-season champions of the Ohio Valley Conference ... Softball (2-12) is scheduled for five games at the Diamond 9 Citrus Classic II in Kissimmee, Florida, this weekend ... Men's golf competes at the Desert Mountain Intercollegiate tomorrow and Sunday ... Don Dunn has been hired as director of player personnel for the football program ... Tracking the Boilermakers will return sometime amid the madness of March.