Purdue gets a quick chance to wash out the taste of Monday night.
After opening the season with a 78-72 loss to No. 15 Gonzaga in Las Vegas, the Boilermakers return home Friday night in West Lafayette, Ind., with Valparaiso next on the schedule. For Matt Painter, it was only the second season-opening defeat in 22 years at Purdue, and it snapped a run of 13 straight wins in openers.
"It was a very winnable game for us, so that's a hard pill to swallow," Painter said Thursday. "But if that game can help us be better going forward, then so be it."
Even in the loss, Purdue found a major bright spot in 7-foot-4 center Daniel Jacobsen. The third-year big man scored 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting, grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and logged his second career 20-point game. Painter didn’t hide his admiration.
"He’s a damn good player, is a damn good college player, going to be a good pro," Painter said. "His development never stopped. You just don’t see some of it."
Jacobsen’s size is already shaping how Purdue wants to play. Princeton transfer Caden Pierce, who had seven points and six rebounds in his debut for the Boilermakers, said the ball needs to find Jacobsen when he seals deep.
"I've never played with a 7-footer, let alone 7-foot-4," Pierce said. "When he has position inside, you've got to reward him. You've got to throw him the ball."
Pierce missed last season while recovering from an ankle injury, finishing his degree at Princeton and preserving his final year of eligibility. Before arriving at Purdue, he was a three-year starter for the Tigers and the Ivy League Player of the Year in 2023-24.
Valparaiso comes in at 1-0 after an 80-58 home win over Western Illinois on Monday. The Beacons got 18 points from JT Pettigrew, who has now scored in double figures in 10 straight games dating to last season. As a freshman last year, he averaged 12.5 points per game.
Freshman Rajan Roberts added 13 points, and Valpo finished with nine turnovers while forcing 16.
The Beacons are still chasing a breakthrough against major-conference competition. They have not beaten a power conference opponent since knocking off Alabama 68-60 on Nov. 21, 2016, in Las Vegas, and they’ve dropped 19 straight games against Big Ten teams since a 69-56 win over Penn State on Dec. 28, 2004.
Friday’s trip to Purdue is only 90 miles from Valparaiso’s campus, and coach Roger Powell Jr. called it a valuable test.
"It’s a great opportunity for these guys," Powell said of facing the Painter-coached Boilermakers. "I’m happy they chose to play us.
Kudos to him. He plays some tough mid-major teams.
It will be a challenge."
Purdue last started 0-2 in the 1976-77 season.
In Other News...
Purdue Gets A Maryland Team Thats Reeling But Still Dangerous
Maryland comes to this one still searching for its first Big Ten win, a season that has already included a midseason coaching change after a string of losses. The Terrapins have shown some defensive improvement lately, but the overall picture remains uneven, especially on offense, where quarterback Malik Washington has been inconsistent and the attack has leaned more on the pass than the run.
For Purdue, that makes Maryland a tricky opponent rather than a comfortable one. The Terrapins have been in a number of close conference games, which is usually enough to keep a team dangerous even when the record says otherwise, and the Boilermakers will need to treat this like a real test instead of a get-right spot. The late-game swings have been a theme for Maryland all season, and that kind of volatility can make a struggling team harder to pin down than its standings line suggests. [Read more 🡒]
Purdue Faces A Progress Test It Cant Afford To Fail
Purdue enters this matchup with a chance to show the progress that has been building in recent weeks, and the timing matters. Maryland has been going the other way, with a six-game losing streak and a coaching change adding even more uncertainty to a program already searching for answers. For the Boilermakers, this is the kind of game that can either validate the improvement people have been pointing to or remind everyone how fragile momentum can be in November.
The conversation around this one keeps circling back to whether Purdue can control the parts of the game it should control. The Boilermakers will need steadiness on offense and a clean overall performance to avoid letting a struggling opponent hang around, and the details in this matchup figure to matter more than the records suggest. It is the sort of test that can say a lot about where Purdue really is, even before the final score tells the rest of the story. [Read more 🡒]
Purdue Already Has One Early Concern Fans Cant Ignore
Purdues season opener against No. 15 Gonzaga offered an early snapshot of what looks promising and what still needs work. Daniel Jacobsen was the bright spot, giving the Boilermakers a strong interior presence and showing up in the kind of ways that matter in a tough nonconference game, while the rest of the roster worked through the usual opening-night issues that can surface when the competition ramps up quickly.
The bigger concern, though, was how the offense handled the perimeter and what the frontcourt looks like behind Jacobsen. Purdues three-point shooting was shaky, and the staff also had reason to recheck the depth chart at center after Enzo Shahrvins rough outing and a limited look for Burgess. For a team that wants to avoid early-season growing pains, those are the kinds of questions that tend to linger until the next game. [Read more 🡒]