Head West young man!
Riding high after scoring 104 points, Purdue hopped on an airplane and like generations before them will seek their fortune out West. But it’s not gold, silver, or any other precious metals they are seeking. No, instead it’s wins. Solid (old) gold wins! Purdue has the opportunity to pick up two of them on this road trip and the first chance is tonight against the Washington Huskies.
A conference road game against Washington. Just imagine going back in time and telling yourself that say 5 years ago, 10 years ago, even 20 years ago when I was a freshman at Purdue. It would have been absolutely unbelievable. Yet, that’s the reality we are living in. Purdue has just one conference loss so far this season but still finds themselves one game back in the loss column as neither Michigan or Michigan State have lost a game. Purdue is in sole possession of third place though as the only team in the conference with just one loss. Michigan and Michigan State will both lose their share of games to be sure but Purdue needs this game against Washington to keep pace. The thinking in the Big Ten is that the team that wins the conference isn’t always the best team but rather it’s the team that wins the games they should win and doesn’t slip up on the road. Purdue should win this game. They need to win this game to keep pace.
Who: #17 Purdue (13-4, 5-1) vs. Washington (10-7, 1-5)
When: 9:30 p.m. ET, 6:30 p.m. PT
Where: Alaska Airlines Arena
TV: BTN (Guy Haberman, Don MacLean)
Radio: Purdue Global Radio Network (Rob Blackman, Bobby Riddell)
A 9:30 tipoff is pretty late for us Eastern timezone folks. So throw on a pot of coffee, grab a Red Bull, do whatever you’ve gotta do because we’ve got late night basketball!