Where Purdue basketball’s Big Ten championship chase stands as stretch run begins

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WEST LAFAYETTE — Keeping tabs on opponents’ outcomes need not distract Purdue men’s basketball from its championship goals.

Boilermakers guard Fletcher Loyer might even argue it’s essential.

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“It’s my job to help the team win the Big Ten,” Loyer said. “So yeah, I watch all the Big Ten games. I watch a lot of college games. But ultimately, it’s making sure we’re ready to go come Tuesday night.”

Contrary to the reality to which it had become accustomed, Purdue does not lead the Big Ten heading into February. It does not enter the closing stretch of the regular season with tenuous grasp on a No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed.

Both outcomes, though, remain on the table. The one over which the Boilermakers hold the most direct control — that third consecutive Big Ten conference championship — has begun to come up in more conversations with players, and more frequently within each one.

“That’s kind of one thing that we talk about when we break it down in the huddle at practice, before and after,” Camden Heide said. “Fletcher brings it up all the time. Braden (Smith) brings it up all the time. That’s our goal right now is winning the Big Ten championship.”

Where Purdue stands in relation to both defending its championship again and improving its NCAA resume as it prepares to begin February play Tuesday at Iowa.

Purdue basketball chasing history

Purdue takes a 9-2 Big Ten record into its first game of February. With the same record a year ago, that equated to a half-game lead over Wisconsin — promptly expanded by a 75-69 victory Feb. 4 in Madison. Two years ago, a 10-1 conference record provided a three-game lead over Illinois and Northwestern.

Doyel: Purdue beat IU, but Indiana won also. The state, people. The state.

Until Saturday, the Boilermakers looked up at a two-game deficit behind Michigan State. The Spartans finally lost their first Big Ten game, at USC, and have…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/where-purdue-basketballs-big-ten-093521999.html

Author : IndyStar | The Indianapolis Star

Publish date : 2025-02-04 09:35:00

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