PURDUE MEN’S BASKETBALL PREVIEW VS. VALPO
The Scene Setter
GAMEDAY INFORMATION — GAME 02
Purdue (0-1, 0-0 B1G) vs. Valparaiso (1-0, 0-0 MVC)
Friday, November 6, 2026 | 6:30 p.m. ET
West Lafayette, Indiana | Mackey Arena (14,876)
TELEVISION: Big Ten Network (Chris Vosters, Bruce Weber)
RADIO: Purdue Global Radio Network (Rob Blackman, Bobby Riddell)
THE SCENE SETTER
• Kicking off a season-long, five-game homestand after lessons learned in the season opener against No. 15 Gonzaga, Purdue looks for its first win of the season when Valparaiso makes the short trip down I-65 for a Friday night battle in Mackey Arena. The Boilermakers fell to Gonzaga 78-72 in Las Vegas in Monday’s opener, while Valparaiso was impressive in a 80-58 win over Western Illinois in its opener on Monday.
• The five-game homestand commences on Friday night and will include two straight Missouri Valley Conference opponents (Valparaiso; Illinois State on Monday) on the docket. All five opponents on the homestand are ranked in the top 225 via KenPom.com, including three in the top 140.
BOILER NOTES
• Purdue opens its home season on Friday night against Valparaiso, owning a 116-12 (.906) record in its home openers all-time. In Mackey Arena home openers, Purdue is 52-7 (.881).
• Prior to Friday’s game, Purdue will unveil the 2026 Big Ten Tournament Championship banner. The title marked Purdue’s fourth Big Ten title (RS or tournament) in the last four seasons.
• Purdue is college basketball’s 10th-winningest program in the country, owning an “official” NCAA all-time record of 1,983 – 1,102 (.643). Purdue needs 17 wins to become the ninth school in NCAA history with 2,000 victories.
• Purdue owns a 61-2 (.968) record all-time in Mackey Arena against current members of the Missouri Valley Conference. The lone losses have come to Indiana State (Dec. 1970, Nov. 1978).
• A win over Valparaiso will prevent an 0-2 start. The last time Purdue started the year 0-2 came in the 1976-77 season (finished 19-9; NCAA T.).
• Purdue has won 22 straight games against non-conference, in-state foes, dating to a Nov. 2001 loss to Butler. Matt Painter is 19-0 against in-state, non-conference opposition and is 33-4 against all in-state opposition.
• Purdue has won 23 straight home games in the month of November and is 71-3 (.959) at home under Matt Painter during the month. The losses have come to Texas (Nov. 2019), Villanova (Nov. 2016) and Bucknell (Nov. 2012). All-time, Purdue is 101-8 (.927) in Mackey during November.
• Over the last 10 seasons (since 2016-17), Purdue owns the ninth-best home record in the country at 140-19 (.881). Among power-conference teams, Purdue ranks fourth in homecourt winning percentage during that time frame (Houston, Kansas, Duke).
• Matt Painter (501) is just 12 wins from passing his mentor and Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Gene Keady (512) on the school’s all-time wins list. The earliest that Painter could pass Keady would be Dec. 19, vs. Colorado in the Indy Classic.
• With Painter reaching 500 wins last season against Miami, Fla., in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Purdue became the second school in NCAA history to have two coaches with at least 500 victories (Kansas – Bill Self, Phog Allen).
• In the season opener against Gonzaga, Purdue didn’t start an Indiana native. The last time that happened came on Feb. 11, 1982, against Ohio State (Joe Gampfer – Ohio; Mike Scearce – Kentucky; Russell Cross – Illinois; Keith Edmonson – Texas; Kevin Stallings – Illinois). More research is needed, but it appears that season is the only year since 1959-60 that didn’t have an Indiana standout in the starting lineup.
• For the first time since the 2014-15 season, Purdue did not have a player voted to the preseason All-Big Ten Team.
• Purdue has had a consensus first- or second-team All-American in eight of the past 10 seasons despite never enrolling a top-30 recruiting class and just one top-30 prospect during that span. This year’s freshmen class broke the trend, ranked in the top 15 nationally.
• Purdue has sold out its ticket allotment for the upcoming season, with the exception of the Cal Baptist (Dec. 21) game. Purdue enters the year with the fourth-longest sellout streak in America at 106 games. Tonight’s contest with Valparaiso will be the 107th straight sellout.
About The Author
