INDIANA BASKETBALL GAME NOTES – GAME 27 AT NO. 7/7 PURDUE
Opening Tip
• Indiana University will take on in-state rival Purdue, the seventh-ranked team in the country, at 8 p.m. ET on Friday, Feb. 20, inside Mackey Arena. Gus Johnson (PxP), Steve Smith (Analyst), and Allison Williams (Sideline) will be on the call for FOX.
• Purdue (21-5, 11-4 B1G) is under the direction of 21st-year head coach Matt Painter, the second-longest tenured head coach in the Big Ten behind Michigan State’s Tom Izzo (31 years). The Boilermakers will be ranked entering the game for the 11th-straight matchup.
• All American senior guard Braden Smith has averaged a team-best 14.9 points to go with 8.8 assists, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.8 steals per game.
• Senior forward Trey Kaufman-Renn had added 13.0 points and 9.1 rebounds per night, while senior guard Fletcher Loyer has scored 13.4 points per outing with a team-best 66 made 3-pointers.
Game Information
Feb. 20, 2026 • 8 PM ET
Mackey Arena (14,876) • West Lafayette, Ind.
TV: FOX (Gus Johnson, Steve Smith, Allison Williams)
Radio: IU Radio Network (Don Fischer, Errek Suhr, John Herrick)
Series History: Indiana trails, 94-126
Last Meeting: IU 72, PUR 67 on Jan. 27, 2026, in Bloomington
Series History
• For the 222nd time, Indiana and Purdue will take to the hardwood for an in-state rivalry that dates back to March 1, 1901. The Hoosiers last won in Mackey Arena on Feb. 25, 2023, behind a career-high 35 points from Jalen Hood-Schifino.
• Indiana earned the first signature win of the Darian DeVries era with a 72-67 result when the two rivals squared off on Jan. 27, 2026, in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Fifth-year senior guard Lamar Wilkerson (19 points) and junior guard Nick Dorn (18) combined for 37 points and six made 3-pointers in the win.
Last Time Out
• Indiana (17-9 8-7 B1G) fell at No. 8/7 Illinois on Sunday, Feb. 15, at the State Farm Arena in Champaign by a score of 71-51. The Hoosier defense held Illinois to its lowest point total in a Big Ten Conference game, its fewest points in a home game, and its second lowest scoring output of the season.
• Fifth-year senior guard Lamar Wilkerson led the IU offense with 21 points, his fifth-straight game with 20-plus points, and three rebounds. The Sam Houston State transfer has tallied at least 20 points in 10 league games this season.
• Redshirt senior forward Tucker DeVries added 13 points, while senior forward Sam Alexis chipped in 11 points and eight rebounds.
Big Ten Brilliance
• Fifth-year senior guard Lamar Wilkerson has averaged 24.2 points per night in Big Ten Conference play this season. He has shot 48.2% (123-of-255) from the floor, 39.9% (53-of-140) from the 3-point line, and 90.1% (64-of-71) from the free throw line in league play.
• The Sam Houston State transfer has scored 15-plus points in 13 conference games, has scored at least 20 points 10 times, added a 32-point night against No. 10 Nebraska (Jan. 10), posted 33 points at USC (Feb. 3), torched the nets for 41 points against Oregon (Feb. 9), and went for a career-best 44 points against Penn State (Dec. 9).
• His scoring average of 24.2 points per game in league play is on pace to be the highest by a Hoosier in Big Ten games since George McGinnis (29.9) during the 1970-71 season.
• Wilkerson is top five among Big Ten players in total points (363), points per game (24.2), made 3-pointers (53), and 3-point shooting percentage (37.9%) in league play.
Long-Distance Calls
• Indiana has averaged 10.2 made 3-pointers per game, which is fourth in the Big Ten and 32nd nationally. The Hoosiers have buried 10 or more triples in 17 games. In those contests, IU holds a record of 12-5 and averaged 86.6 points per game.
• The Hoosiers have made 266 shots from behind the 3-point line this season, the sixth most in program history. The program record of 345 was set during the 2015-16 season when IU made 9.9 triples per contest.
• Fifth-year senior Lamar Wilkerson is 18th nationally and second in the Big Ten with 3.3 made 3-pointers per game. Redshirt senior forward Tucker DeVries (2.7) is fourth in the B1G.
• Junior guard Nick Dorn (2.1) is 11th in the league. The Elon transfer has made 51-of-132 attempts (38.6%) from long range this season. He has made at least one triple in 17 games.
#7 PURDUE HOSTS INDIANA FRIDAY ON FOX PRIMETIME
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
[7 / 7] Purdue (21-5, 11-4) vs. Indiana (17-9, 8-7)
Saturday, February 20, 2026 | 8 p.m. ET
West Lafayette, Ind. | Mackey Arena (14,876)
TELEVISION: FOX (Gus Johnson, Steve Smith, Allison Williams)
RADIO: Purdue Global Radio Network (Rob Blackman, Bobby Riddell)
PURDUE’S NUMBERS
• Overall: 21-5 | Big Ten: 11-4
• Home: 11-3 | Away: 7-2 | Neutral: 3-0
• Q1: 8-5 | Q2: 2-0 | Q3: 9-0 | Q4: 2-0
• NCAA NET: 8 | KenPom: 8
• Off. Eff.: 2nd | Def. Eff.: 27th
• NCAA SOS: 4 | KenPom SOS: 6
THE SCENE SETTER
• Facing Indiana in the middle contest of a three-game homestand, the No. 7-ranked Purdue men’s basketball team continues its grueling conclusion to the regular season, hosting the Hoosiers for the 223rd meeting between the two schools. The Boilermakers are looking to split the season series with Indiana for the second straight season after falling in Bloomington in late January.
• Following the contest with Indiana, Purdue closes its homestand against No. 15 Michigan State on Thursday, Feb. 26.
THE SERIES
• Purdue and Indiana will meet for the 223rd time in series history, with Purdue holding a 128-94 series advantage.
• The series is the most-frequently played rivalry among original Big Ten members, but is now behind Washington vs. Oregon (318) and UCLA vs. USC (265) among all Big Ten rivalries.
• The Boilermakers have won 16 of the last 22 contests dating to the 2013-14 season.
• However, Indiana is 5-4 against the Boilermakers in the last nine meetings back to the 2021-22 season.
• Purdue will be facing Indiana as a ranked team for the 11th straight meeting. In Mackey Arena, Purdue is 17-4 as a ranked team against the Hoosiers.
• Purdue has won nine of the last 10 meetings against Indiana in Mackey Arena.
• Indiana hasn’t scored 80 points against Purdue in a span of 21 games, dating to Feb. 16, 2013 (Indiana win, 83-55).
NEWS AND NOTES
• Looking to rebound from its fifth loss of the season, Purdue welcomes in rival Indiana to close out the season series with the Hoosiers on Friday night.
• Indiana is one of three Big Ten home-and-home series the Boilermakers have this season. According to BracketMatrix.com, Purdue is the only Big Ten team to face three likely NCAA Tournament teams in its two-plays (Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin).
• Purdue is one of just five teams in America with at least eight quad-1 victories (Duke – 10; Michigan – 10; Arizona – 10; Purdue – 8; Florida – 8).
• Purdue is 19-5 in the first three quads, the second-most wins in the first three quads nationally (Michigan – 23; UConn – 19). Purdue’s two quad-4 games are tied for the fewest in the country (Michigan, Alabama, Boise State).
• Of Purdue’s remaining five games, two of them are currently quad-1 contests (Michigan State, Ohio State). The others are right on the cusp of being quad-1 (Indiana – 34; Wisconsin – 35; Northwestern – 77).
• Purdue continues to play one of America’s toughest schedules, owning the sixth-most difficult schedule in America. In the last three seasons, Purdue’s strength of schedule has ranked 6th (2025-26), 8th (2024-25) and 2nd (2023-24).
• Purdue ranks in the top 30 nationally in assist / turnover ratio (1st), offensive efficiency (2nd), assists per game (3rd), turnovers per game (10th), field goal percentage (21st), scoring margin (21st), rebound margin (21st), 3-point percentage (26th) and defensive efficiency (27th).
• Purdue has been ranked in 74 straight AP Top 25 polls, the second-longest streak in the country behind Houston (121). Purdue has been in the top 10 in 73 of the last 95 polls.