| WEEKEND STREAMING GUIDE (all times ET) |
| Men's Basketball |
| Saturday / Noon / at Minnesota / ESPN2 |
| Women's Basketball |
| Saturday / 4 p.m. / at Iowa / BTN |
| Wrestling |
| Friday / 8 p.m. / at Nebraska / BTN Plus |
| Spirit Squad |
| Friday-Saturday / UCA & UDA College Cheerleading and Dance Team National Championship / Varsity TV |
By Tom Schott
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - It is Senior Day for the swimming & diving teams.
The Boilermakers play host to Michigan State at 5 p.m. ET on Friday at the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center.
Ten men will be honored - Marat Amaltdinov, Chris Bals, Hudson Bursch, Alex Close, Konnor de Venecia, Sean Gartland, Adam Noens, Jared Schimmelpfenning, Jake Thomas and Nate Thomas - and eight women - Alex Ford, Julianne Heyde, Rachel Ho, Hanna House, Kaersten Meitz, Emmy Rawson, Samm Reese and Annie Spalding - at 4:45 p.m. in a ceremony that again will feature Purdue's iconic Big Bass Drum. Also being recognized are student team manager Patrick Curley and student athletic trainer Allison Hlavin.
The men's team has a 3-2 record (0-1 B1G), while the women's squad 3-1 (1-0 B1G).
Nikola Bjelajac, who was victorious in the 50 and 100 freestyle, when the men's team won at Hawaii on Jan. 2, earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors.
Men's Basketball Off to Second-Best Start Ever
With a 16-2 record, No. 5 men's basketball is off to the second-best 18-game start in school history. Only the 1987-88 team has been better at 17-1.
The Boilermakers are 5-0 in the Big Ten Conference for the first time since they won their first eight league games during the 1989-90 season. Most recently, they earned a heart-pounding 70-69 victory at Michigan on Jan. 9 when senior center Isaac Haas drained a free throw with four seconds remaining.
For Purdue's highly regarded seniors, it marked their first win at Crisler Arena in. The foursome now have been victorious in all but two Big Ten venues - Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa, and the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois.
Purdue takes a 12-game winning streak - the third-longest in the country - to Minnesota (13-5, 2-3) for a noon ET tip Saturday. The Boilermakers return home Jan. 16 to take on Wisconsin () at 7 p.m. It is the annual T-shirt game - all fans will receive either a gold or black Mackey Arena 50th anniversary T-shirt - and tickets are available here. The game will be televised by ESPN as part of Super Tuesday.
The Boilermakers' No. 5 national ranking is their best since Feb. 22, 2010, when they were No. 3.
Keys Reaches 1,000 Points
On Jan. 6 at Indiana, senior guard Andreona Keys became the 32nd player in women's basketball program history to score 1,000 career points. She is one of just nine Boilermakers with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 250 points.
Purdue put on a defensive clinic in a 47-33 win over No. 21 Rutgers on Jan. 10 at Mackey Arena. Rutgers came into the game averaging 69 points and riding an 11-game winning streak. But the Boilermakers built a 25-10 halftime lead and were not seriously threatened, claiming their fifth straight homecourt victory.
Purdue (11-7, 2-2 B1G) plays at No. 17 Iowa (15-2, 3-1) on Saturday.
Lydy Takes Down Another Ranked Opponent
Redshirt sophomore Dylan Lydy upset sixth-ranked Myles Amine of Michigan at 174 pounds Jan. 7 at Holloway Gymnasium. It stands as the highest-ranked opponent a Purdue wrestler has defeated this season. Lydy tops the team with 22 wins, including five over ranked opponents, and is ranked No. 12.
The No. 22 Boilermakers (5-2, 0-1 B1G) compete at No. 19 Nebraska (3-3, 1-1) tonight. Fourth-year head coach Tony Ersland was an assistant with the Cornhuskers from 2006 to 2014.
Tennis Teams Open
Women's tennis opens its 2018 season Saturday with matches against Cincinnati (9 a.m. ET) and Butler (3 p.m.) on the Basham Courts at the Schwartz Tennis. The first 50 fans receive a T-shirt, and there will be a racquet bag giveaway.
Meanwhile, men's tennis gets its season underway Jan. 15 against Western Kentucky (1 p.m.) and DePaul (6 p.m.) at home.
Boilermakers in the NFL Playoffs Update
Four former Purdue football players are with National Football League teams still alive in the playoffs.
The quartet consists of safety Ricardo Allen (Atlanta Falcons), quarterback Drew Brees (New Orleans Saints), guard/tackle Dennis Kelly (Tennessee Titans) and offensive lineman Jason King (New England Patriots).
On Saturday, Atlanta plays at the Philadelphia Eagles and New England hosts Tennessee.
On Sunday, New Orleans plays at the Minnesota Vikings.
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.
Etcetera
Men's and women's track & field have their first indoor meet of the season - the Gene Edmonds Open - Saturday beginning at 10:30 a.m. ET at Lambert Fieldhouse ... The spirit squad competes at the UCA College Cheerleading and Dance Team national championships today and tomorrow in Orlando, Florida ... Head softball coach Boo De Oliveira has been named second vice president of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association ... Recent Purdue Athletics hires include Brad Boswell as assistant athletics director for compliance and Andrew Jent as assistant golf professional ... Congratulations to supervisor of diving operations Tim Bertsch and his wife, former basketball player Brittany Rayburn (2009-12) on their birth of their daughter, Teagan, on Jan. 7 ... Men's golf alums Tyler Duncan (2009-12) and Adam Schenk (2011-14) are competing at this week's Sony Open in Hawaii ... On Feb. 10, the marketing & promotions department is conducting its annual tryouts for national anthem singers. Interested participants need to fill out this form and submit it via email by Feb. 2 to reserve a time ... Guests on this week's Purdue Athletics Podcast are men's basketball senior Isaac Haas and head men's swimming coach Dan Ross.