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 Painter when scoring at least 80 points, including 64-2 since the start of the 2017-18 season. Purdue has won 42 straight games when scoring at least 80 points.
• No team has shot better than 42 percent from the field against Purdue in its six games this year. West Virginia is the best so far at 41.3 %. Purdue is one of seven teams nationally to hold all of its opponents under 42.0 percent shooting.
• Purdue has made 121 free throws this season, while opponents have shot just 79. Purdue has made 64 more free throws (121 to 57) this season, the eighth-highest discrepancy in the country.
• Zach Edey has scored at least 20 points in six straight games, the second-longest streak of scoring 20 or more points during the Matt Painter era (7 by JaJuan Johnson - 2010-11 season). It's also the third-longest streak for any 7-footer in the last 25 years.
• Through Thursday, Zach Edey ranks No. 1 in the KenPom POY ratings by a significant margin and has been the game MVP in all seven Purdue contests so far this year. Including this season with Edey, Purdue has had a top-10 KenPom player in 5 of the last 7 seasons. Edey ranks 6th in the country in scoring, 4th in rebounding, 26th in blocked shots and 28th in field goal percentage.
• Since the start of last season against 11 ranked teams, Edey is averaging 17.4 points and 8.0 rebounds per game (74-of-123 FGs; 60.2 %).
• Fletcher Loyer was named the Big Ten's Freshman of the Week after averaging 16.0 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists in wins over Gonzaga and Duke. Loyer is ninth in the country among freshmen in 3-pointers per game (2.50).
• Purdue has won back-to-back Big Ten Freshman of the Week awards after Braden Smith won it on Nov. 21 (20 pts., 3 asts. vs Marquette).
• Purdue's two freshman guards (Loyer and Smith) are averaging a combined 24.7 points, 9.0 rebounds and 8.3 assists over the last 3 games.
• Matt Painter needs nine overall victories to become the fifth coach in Big Ten history with 400 victories while at a conference school (Bob Knight, Tom Izzo, Gene Keady, Lou Henson). He needs six victories to become the seventh coach with 200 Big Ten Conference victories.
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 Painter when scoring at least 80 points, including 64-2 since the start of the 2017-18 season. Purdue has won 42 straight games when scoring at least 80 points.
• No team has shot better than 42 percent from the field against Purdue in its six games this year. West Virginia is the best so far at 41.3 %. Purdue is one of seven teams nationally to hold all of its opponents under 42.0 percent shooting.
• Purdue has made 121 free throws this season, while opponents have shot just 79. Purdue has made 64 more free throws (121 to 57) this season, the eighth-highest discrepancy in the country.
• Zach Edey has scored at least 20 points in six straight games, the second-longest streak of scoring 20 or more points during the Matt Painter era (7 by JaJuan Johnson - 2010-11 season). It's also the third-longest streak for any 7-footer in the last 25 years.
• Through Thursday, Zach Edey ranks No. 1 in the KenPom POY ratings by a significant margin and has been the game MVP in all seven Purdue contests so far this year. Including this season with Edey, Purdue has had a top-10 KenPom player in 5 of the last 7 seasons. Edey ranks 6th in the country in scoring, 4th in rebounding, 26th in blocked shots and 28th in field goal percentage.
• Since the start of last season against 11 ranked teams, Edey is averaging 17.4 points and 8.0 rebounds per game (74-of-123 FGs; 60.2 %).
• Fletcher Loyer was named the Big Ten's Freshman of the Week after averaging 16.0 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists in wins over Gonzaga and Duke. Loyer is ninth in the country among freshmen in 3-pointers per game (2.50).
• Purdue has won back-to-back Big Ten Freshman of the Week awards after Braden Smith won it on Nov. 21 (20 pts., 3 asts. vs Marquette).
• Purdue's two freshman guards (Loyer and Smith) are averaging a combined 24.7 points, 9.0 rebounds and 8.3 assists over the last 3 games.
• Matt Painter needs nine overall victories to become the fifth coach in Big Ten history with 400 victories while at a conference school (Bob Knight, Tom Izzo, Gene Keady, Lou Henson). He needs six victories to become the seventh coach with 200 Big Ten Conference victories.