What was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Purdue men’s basketball team, following the loss of Jaden Ivey, Trevion Williams, Eric Hunter, Sasha Stefanovic, and Isaiah Thompson, turned into the program’s 25th Big Ten Conference championship. Matt Painter and company last won a share of the conference title in 2019 and last won it outright in 2017.
Their 25 titles are the most amongst all Big Ten schools. Indiana, of course, is second with 22 championships. After closing out the regular season against Illinois tomorrow in West Lafayette, Purdue comes to Chicago next week as the #1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament at the United Center. A deep run should guarantee them a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament as they try to reach the Final Four for the first time since 1980.
This was supposed to be a rebuilding year for Purdue Men’s Basketball after the loss of Jaden Ivey, Trevion Williams, Eric Hunter, Sasha Stefanovic, and Isaiah Thompson. Matt Painter and company weren’t having any of that, though, and, for the second time in school history, Purdue is the #1 ranked men’s college basketball team in the country. A little over a month ago, they were an unranked upstart, but a 10-0 record with decisive victories against Gonzaga and Duke has seen them rise to the top of the rankings in record time.