The next piece of the schedule is in place.
It is never too early to start looking ahead to basketball again, and the pieces are starting to fall into place for Purdue’s 11 game non-conference schedule. We already know Purdue will take part in the Phil Knight Legacy Tournament out in Portland November 24-27 int he bracket with Duke, Florida, Gonzaga, Oregon State, Portland State, West Virginia and Xavier. That will account for three of the 11 games, and Purdue is due one more home game in the Gavitt Games and will likely be on the road in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Today it was announced the Boilers will return to Gainbridge Fieldhouse even with the Crossroads Classic now done:
NEWS: Purdue and Davidson will play a neutral site game on December 17th at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, according to multiple sources.https://t.co/byrwFg1iji
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) May 20, 2022
This game will take place on the same date window as the Crossroads, and it looks like it is a one-off like the old Boilermaker Blockbuster or Wooden Tradition in Indy.
Purdue and Davidson have played twice before. The first was on 12/20/2008, also at the Fieldhouse in Indy, when Keaton Grant and Chris Kramer stuffed Steph Curry in a box and sat on it for 40 minutes. Purdue won 76-58 and shut down one of the greatest shooters of all-time. The second meeting was more recent as Purdue beat Davidson 79-58 in the Charleston Tournament early in the 2018-19 season. This is a sneaky good non-conference game, as Davidson was 27-7 this past year and lost to Michigan State 74-73 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.