GAMEDAY INFORMATION
[6 / 6] Purdue (8-1, 1-0) vs. Minnesota (5-4, 1-0)
Wednesday, December 10 | 7:00 PM ET
West Lafayette, Indiana | Mackey Arena (14,876)
TV: BTN (Kevin Kugler, Robbie Hummel, Andy Katz)
RADIO: Purdue Global Radio Network (Rob Blackman, Bobby Riddell)
THE SCENE SETTER
• Coming off its first loss of the season, the No. 6-ranked Purdue men's basketball team looks to regroup in its Big Ten home opener by hosting Minnesota on Wednesday night in Mackey Arena. The Boilermakers have won their Big Ten home opener in all eight seasons since the league went to December league games, last losing their Big Ten home opener in the 2015-16 season (Iowa; Jan. 2, 2016).
• Following the Minnesota tilt, Purdue ends non-conference play with three straight games, starting Saturday against Marquette in Mackey.
THE MATCHUP
• Meeting for the 196th time in a series that dates to the 1903-04 season, Purdue and Minnesota will face off for the only this season on Wednesday in Mackey Arena.
• The 196 meetings make this the 10th-most frequently-played rivalry in the Big Ten, and if you don't include the West Coast members, the series moves up to eighth.
• Purdue has won five straight games in the series by a combined 84 points. Going back further, the Boilermakers have won seven of eight games (to 2019-20), and 16 of the last 22 with the Gophers (to Jan. 29, 2011).
• Purdue has been ranked in 13 of the last 15 games with Minnesota (9-4 record).
• However, the Boilermakers are 18-2 in Mackey Arena as a ranked team against Minnesota, including 7-0 as a Top-10 team.
• Purdue has been held under 80 points just once during the five-game winning streak and that came in a 61-39 decision in Minneapolis on Jan. 19, 2023. The Boilermakers have scored at least 80 points in six of the last eight contests.
• A win would be six in a row against the Gophers, the longest streak since 1993 to 96 (7 games).
NEWS AND NOTES
• Purdue is coming off a loss for the first time after falling to Iowa State on Saturday. Since the 2022-23 season, Purdue is 21-6 in games following a loss.
• Since the start of last season, Purdue owns a 14-1 (.933) record in the month of November, but is now just 3-4 (.429) in the month of December with losses to Penn State, No. 17 Texas A&M, No. 2 Auburn and No. 10 Iowa State.
• Purdue is ranked in the top 25 in the following NCAA statistical categories: Assist / Turnover Ratio (5th), Assists Per Game (8th), 3-Point Percentage (11th) and Rebound Margin (19th).
• Individually, these Boilermakers are in the top 50 in the following NCAA categories: Assists Per Game (Braden Smith, 2nd), Offensive Rebouds Per Game (Trey Kaufman-Renn, 5th; Oscar Cluff, 6th), Rebounds Per Game (Trey Kaufman-Renn, 10th), Free Throw Percentage (Fletcher Loyer, 22nd), Blocks Per Game (Daniel Jacobsen, 27th), 3-Point Percentage (Fletcher Loyer, 27th) and Assist / Turnover Ratio (Braden Smith, 45th).
• Purdue hasn't lost two straight home games since Feb. 11 and Feb. 22, 2020.
• In his last three games against Minnesota, Braden Smith is averaging 18.3 points, 8.7 assists and 7.0 rebounds while shooting 10-of-18 (.556) from 3-point range. He has 26 assists against four turnovers in that span.
• Purdue has been ranked in the AP Top 25 for 65 straight weeks -- a new school record.
• Since the start of the 2021-22 season, Purdue has been ranked in the top 10 a nation's-best 67 weeks out of 86 polls. Houston and Kansas are next at 65 weeks.
• Since the start of the 2014-15 season, Purdue is 91-14 (.867) in Mackey Arena against Big Ten opposition, the best record by 7.5 games (Michigan State, 84-22).
• Purdue is 127-49 in conference play since 2016-17, the second-best power-conference record in that span behind Duke (126-46).
• Braden Smith needs just seven points and 13 assists to become the second player in NCAA history with 1,500 points, 850 assists and 550 rebounds in his career (Ohio's D.J. Cooper; 2013-16).