Purdue Faces Tough Big 10 Test In Madison

If the Boilermakers hope to make it three straight wins in conference play, guards Braden Smith, CJ Cox, and Fletcher Loyer have their work cut out for them.

Leading the way offensively for the Badgers this season are the guard tandem of John Blackwell and Nick Boyd, who own the top two scoring averages on the team

Boyd, a senior with previous stops at San Diego State and Florida Atlantic, paces Wisconsin, scoring 19.2 points per game, which is sixth in the Big 10. The junior Blackwell pitches in 18.2 points and five rebounds each contest, good for the ninth-best mark in the conference.

While the Badgers’ backcourt demands attention, Purdue cannot sleep on Wisconsin’s versatile presence down low.

Big man Nolan Winter is having a breakout season for the Badgers, and he is someone Purdue must account for at all times. The 7-foot junior is converting on nearly 60% of his field goal attempts, and he is a legitimate threat from three-point distance. His 9.2 rebounds per game currently rank him fourth in the Big 10.

Blackwell and Winter have recently been nursing injuries. Blackwell did not suit up against Central Michigan on December 22, and Winter left that game with an apparent lower-body injury. Since both players played and logged 20+ minutes on Tuesday versus Milwaukee, head coach Greg Gard must believe that the two would be good to go against the Boilermakers.

Purdue Looks To Exact Revenge–Again

Purdue’s mini-revenge tour of 2025-26 rolls into Madison this weekend. Having already exorcised the demons of losses last season to Marquette and Auburn, the Boilers have another score to settle against Wisconsin.

In Mackey Arena on February 15 last year, 16th-ranked Wisconsin proved to be rude guests and took it to the #14 Boilermakers, 94-84. Purdue led by one at halftime, but the Badgers scored 58 second-half points on 72% shooting en route to the win.

Another remarkable statistic from that game is that the Badgers scored on their final 12 possessions of the game, and it was only their sixth win ever at Mackey Arena.

Following that contest, Purdue head coach Matt Painter heaped all the praise on the Badgers’ resolve.

“I told our guys, they gave you a lesson in maturity,” he recounted. “I thought they were mentally and physically tougher. That’s something I write on the board every game. You have to be mentally and physically tougher than your opponent. And they were better than us in those two areas.”

Saturday will determine if the toughness of Painter’s veteran crew has grown in the past eleven months.

End Of My Purdue Rant: Big 10 Games Mean That Much More

Most college basketball coaches will say that there are three phases to a season. The first part is the non-conference season to see what their team is all about. Next comes the crux of the conference schedule, which gets the squad ready for the post-season madness.

Purdue has completed the first chapter of their season on an extremely positive note. Painter and the rest of Boiler Nation would like to see the next juncture begin just as seamlessly as the first two months went. That begins with their date in Madison Saturday night.