No. 24 Purdue is back at Mackey Arena on Friday night looking to bounce back after dropping its opener, and Valparaiso is the opponent waiting across the floor.
The Boilermakers enter at 0-1 after falling to Gonzaga in Las Vegas, while Valparaiso comes in at 1-0 after beating Western Illinois. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. ET Friday, Nov. 6, in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Purdue’s starting group is C.J. Cox, Caden Pierce, Omer Mayer, Daniel Jacobsen and Gicarri Harris.
Valparaiso’s roster features Dylan Moles, who is from Greenfield-Central; Bruno Alocen, who previously played at Indiana State; Camdem Webster, from Wheatfield, Indiana; and Justin Curry II, from Noblesville.
For those following along on the radio, the game will air on 96.5 FM in Lafayette, 1260 AM and 97.5 FM in Indianapolis, and SiriusXM Channel 264.
The rankings also tilt toward Purdue. EvanMiya lists the Boilermakers at 29 and Valparaiso at 152, while Torvik has Purdue at 34 and Valparaiso at 141.
Purdue’s 2026-27 roster includes C.J. Cox, Antoine West, Luke Ertel, Sam King, Caden Pierce, Jack Lusk, Jacob Webber, Daniel Jacobsen, Jack Benter, Omer Mayer, Enzo Shahrvin, Rivers Knight, Gicarri Harris, Jace Rayl, Sinan Huan and Raleigh Burgess.
Matt Painter is in his 21st season at Purdue and owns a 501-225 record with the Boilermakers, 526-230 overall. He guided Purdue to the 2024 national championship game, where it lost to UConn.
Roger Powell Jr. is in his fourth season with the Beacons and has a 41-59 record.
Purdue’s schedule continues quickly after Friday’s game. The Boilermakers host Illinois State on Monday, Nov. 9, at 8:30 p.m. on FS1, then Ohio on Friday, Nov. 13, at 7 p.m. on B1G+, before more games pile up through the rest of the month and into March.
The full slate includes matchups with Lipscomb, Oakland, DePaul in the Fort Myers Tip-Off, Oklahoma in the Fort Myers Tip-Off, Iowa, Iowa State, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Colorado in the Indy Classic at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Cal Baptist, USC, Rutgers, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio State, Minnesota, Penn State, Maryland, Nebraska, Michigan State, Northwestern, Indiana, UCLA, Oregon and Washington.
In Other News...
Purdues Biggest Defensive Problem Is Getting Harder To Ignore
Purdues defense spent much of the Penn State game under pressure, and the issues in the front seven were hard to miss. The Boilermakers had trouble holding up against the run, with the defensive line getting pushed around and the linebackers and cornerbacks producing a mixed night of results. Snap counts and tackle totals told part of the story, but the broader picture was even clearer in the film review, where Kyle and Drew broke down which individual defenders held up and which ones struggled to make their presence felt.
The concern for Purdue is not just what happened in one game, but how it fit into a pattern that is becoming tougher to brush aside. There were some encouraging individual moments in the grading, and a few players flashed in specific roles, but the overall unit still looked vulnerable when Penn State leaned into its ground game. For a defense trying to establish some consistency, the next step is figuring out whether those problems are fixable with personnel tweaks and better execution, or whether the same issues are going to keep surfacing every week. [Read more 🡒]
Ex Boilermakers Are Already Sending Early Signs At Their New Schools
A handful of former Purdue players wasted no time making their presence felt in new uniforms as the 2026-27 college basketball season opened. Trey Kaufman-Renn, Will Berg, Camden Heide, Myles Colvin and Aaron Fine all logged their first games with new programs, giving Boilermaker fans an early look at how the transfer pipeline is taking shape around the country.
The range of debuts was notable. Berg turned in the biggest night of the group, while Heide added a solid scoring effort for South Carolina and Colvin chipped in across the board for Cincinnati. Kaufman-Renn and Fine had quieter openers, but each former Boilermaker was part of a season-opening rotation, which is exactly the kind of early-season snapshot that can make Purdue followers keep one eye on what its exes are doing elsewhere. [Read more 🡒]