| WEEKEND STREAMING GUIDE (all times ET) |
| Men's Basketball |
| Saturday / 2:15 p.m. / Nebraska / BTN |
| Women's Basketball |
| Saturday / Noon / at Indiana / BTN Plus |
| Wrestling |
| Sunday / 11 a.m. / Princeton / BTN Plus |
| Sunday / 1 p.m. / Michigan / BTN Plus |
By Tom Schott
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue Athletics was in a class by itself in 2017. Here's how:
Purdue was the only school in the country to win a football bowl game, have its men's basketball team advance to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16, and have its women's basketball team and women's volleyball team advance to NCAA Tournament second round.
Congratulations to all. Boiler Up!
Men's Basketball Racking up Points, Wins
No. 13 men's basketball opened January the way it finished December - with another convincing win.
The Boilermakers (14-2, 3-0 B1G) disposed of Rutgers 82-51 on Wednesday at Mackey Arena, extending their winning streak to 10 in a row. They went 7-0 in December for the second straight year. Purdue has won three consecutive games by 30 or more points for the first time in school history (also 98-66 over Lipscomb on Dec. 30 and 97-48 over Tennessee State on Dec. 21). Moreover, the Boilermakers have scored 80 or more points in six straight games for the first time since Dec. 6 to 27, 1997.
Under head coach Matt Painter, the Boilermakers are 3-0 in Big Ten Conference play for the second time in 13 seasons (also 2010-11, when they began 4-0).
Next up is a Saturday matinee against Nebraska (11-5, 2-1) at Mackey. Tip time is 2:15 p.m. ET, and the game is sold out. Purdue boasts a 17-game home winning streak, both the fifth-longest in the country currently and in Mackey history.
At halftime tomorrow, Purdue will recognize Todd Mitchell (1985-88), a third team All-American forward in 1988. Mitchell scored 1,699 career points to rank 12th in school history. He was part of the "Three Amigos" with guards Troy Lewis and Everett Stephens, and the trio was elected to the Purdue Athletics Hall of Fame in 2010.
Women's Basketball Bound for Bloomington
Half a point in the Governor's Cup will be on the line Saturday when the Purdue and Indiana women's basketball teams square off in Bloomington.
Through the fall sports, the Boilermakers lead the all-sports competition by a 3.5 to 1.5 margin.
Purdue (10-6, 1-1 B1G) is coming off a 57-35 win over Wisconsin on Jan. 31 at Mackey Arena, using a 32-0 run over a 13-and-a-half-minute stretch in the second and third quarters to seize the game. The Boilermakers limited the Badgers to the lowest scoring total for a Big Ten opponent since Northwestern mustered merely 30 points Jan. 25, 2007.
Four Boilermakers average double figures in scoring: senior guard Andreona Keys (12.9), sophomore forward Ae'Rianna Harris (12.5), sophomore guard Dominique Oden (10.8) and sophomore guard Lamina Cooper (10.3). Freshman guard Karissa McLaughlin is knocking on the door at 9.3 points per game.
In the all-time series against Indiana, Purdue has won 52 of the last 63 meetings, including 12 of 15, 17 of 22, 23 of 29 and 32 of 39, to claim a 54-28 advantage. The Boilermakers are 21-13 in games played in Bloomington.
The Hoosiers, who are coached by former Purdue guard Teri Moren (1988-91), have a 7-9 overall record this season and have lost their first three Big Ten games.
Record Showing by Wrestlers at Midlands
A school-record seven Purdue wrestlers placed at the Midlands Championships, which wrapped up Dec. 30. The Boilermakers amassed a school-record 84 points to place seventh, their best showing since a 10th-place finish in 2011.
Seventh-seeded redshirt sophomore Dylan Lydy and eighth-seeded sophomore Christian Brunner placed third at 174 and 197 pounds, respectively, to lead the way.
Unseeded redshirt sophomore Nate Limmex placed fourth at 141, and a trio of Boilermakers placed seventh: redshirt senior Luke Welch (125), redshirt senior Jacob Morrissey (165) and redshirt sophomore Shawn Streck (285). Devin Schroder rounded out the award winners by placing eighth at 125.
Purdue's previous program bests were four placers in 1990, 2006 and 2008 and 82.5 points in 2008. The Boilermakers defeated 16 higher seeded opponents during the two-day tournament in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. They earned bonus points in 12 matches, registering 10 major decisions and two pins, leading to 367 total match points, which was the fifth-most among all teams.
Next up for the Boilermakers (4-1) is a double-dual Sunday at Holloway Gymnasium. They will take on Princeton (0-3) at 11 a.m. ET, followed by No. 9 Michigan (2-1) at 1 p.m. The Tigers and the Wolverines square off at 3 p.m.
Men's Swimming Wins at Hawaii
Men's swimming won 10 of 14 events to defeat Hawaii 178-84 on Jan. 2 in Honolulu. The dual meet was part of the Boilermakers' winter training trip.
Senior Marat Amaltdinov and freshman Nikola Bjelajac, who joined the program during the semester break from Bosnia and Herzegovina, both swept their event specialties to pace Purdue. Amaltdinov won the 100 and 200 breaststroke, while Bjelajac was victorious in the 50 and 100 freestyle.
Purdue placed 1-2-3 in the 50, 100, 500 and 1,000 free.
To read the daily blog by the men's and women's swimmers & divers from their trip to the island of O'ahu, click here.
Next up for the Boilermakers is a home co-ed dual against Michigan State on Jan. 12, beginning at 5 p.m. ET at the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center.
Football Tops Arizona 38-35 to Win Foster Farms Bowl
Football wrapped up a storybook season under first-year head coach Jeff Brohm with a thrilling 38-35 win over Arizona in the Foster Farms Bowl on Dec. 27 in Santa Clara, California.
Sophomore quarterback Elijah Sindelar threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Anthony Mahoungou with 1:44 left in the game. Then, on Arizona's ensuing possession, junior safety Jacob Thieneman came up with an interception at the Purdue 36-yard line with 23 seconds remaining to give the Boilermakers (7-6) their first bowl victory and winning season since 2011.
Sindelar completed 33 of 53 passes for career highs of 396 yards and four touchdowns to be selected the game's Offensive Most Valuable Player. He also was named the quarterback on the Associated Press all-bowl team.
Senior wide receiver Gregory Phillips hauled in a Purdue bowl-record 14 receptions for a career-high 149 yards, while Mahoungou had six catches for 118 yards. Both caught two touchdown passes. Junior running back D.J. Knox rushed for 101 yards on 11 carries with a touchdown.
Senior linebacker Ja'Whaun Bentley was voted the game's Defensive Most Valuable Player after recording eight tackles, including 2.0 for loss and his first career sack. Sophomore linebacker Markus Bailey topped the team with 11 tackles, while classmate safety Navon Mosely forced and recovered a fumble.
Meanwhile, the Big Ten Conference boasted an eye-popping 7-1 record in bowl games.
Boilermakers in the NFL Playoffs
Six former Purdue football players are with National Football League teams headed to the playoffs, which get underway this weekend.
The sextet consists of safety Ricardo Allen (Atlanta Falcons), quarterback Drew Brees (New Orleans Saints), running back Akeem Hunt (Kansas City Chiefs), guard/tackle Dennis Kelly (Tennessee Titans), offensive lineman Jason King (New England Patriots) and defensive tackle Kawann Short (Carolina Panthers).
A Boilermaker has been in 18 consecutive Super Bowls, the second-longest streak in the country behind Nebraska (24), and on the winning team 14 of the last 18 seasons.
Brees set the NFL season record by completing 72.0 percent of his passes. He also owns the third- and fourth-best marks (71.2 in 2011 and 70.6 in 2009) and is the career leader at 66.9 percent. Additionally, Brees became just the third quarterback in NFL history to pass for 70,000 career yards, following Peyton Manning (71,940) and Brett Favre (71,838).
Painter Aims to Raise Money for Smith Family BReaK Thru Fund
For the eighth straight year, Purdue head men's basketball coach Matt Painter will participate in the Infiniti Coaches Charity Challenge to raise money for the Smith Family BReaK Thru Fund.
Painter has finished in the top four each of the seven previous years, including winning $100,000 for the foundation during the 2015 event, as Purdue fans stuffed the online polls to win the national challenge. Boilermakers everywhere are encouraged to vote every day.
During the seven years of the program, Painter has helped raise more than $200,000 for the charity.
The program pits 48 coaches from the nation's top programs against one another in a 10-week fan-vote challenge, with Infiniti's total contribution exceeding $300,000. Now in its sixth year, Infiniti will make a $100,000 contribution to the winning coach's designated charity.
The Smith Family BReaK Thru Fund is a West Lafayette-based organization whose mission is to fund research to fight Niemann-Pick Type C Disease (NPC). The fund was set up by a family with three children impacted by NPC, and it has financed more than $300,000 in research at Purdue since its inception in 2008.
Etcetera
Football senior defensive end Danny Ezechukwu will participate in the College Gridiron Showcase from Jan. 6 to 10 in Addison, Texas, while cornerback Da'Wan Hunte has been invited to play in the Tropical Bowl all-star game Jan. 14 in Daytona, Florida ... Former women's basketball players Leslie Johnson (1994-95) and Danielle McCulley (1994-95) were honored by the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame as members of the 2018 Silver Anniversary team ... Recent Purdue Athletics hires include Ashley Perry as supervisor of sports operations, working with soccer and softball ... Guests on this week's Purdue Athletics Podcast are men's basketball sophomore Tommy Luce and women's basketball senior Andreona Keys.