Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports
Here come the Trees!
We have another game locked in for the 2020-21 men’s basketball season as Purdue basketball announced today that the Indiana St. Sycamores will come to Mackey Arena on November 13, 2020. it will be the first time in 10 years Purdue has faced the Trees:
Purdue owns a 29-4 all-time advantage against the Sycamores, last defeating Indiana State on Dec. 18, 2010, a 65-52 decision in Indianapolis. Head coach Matt Painter is 5-1 against Indiana State, posting a 3-1 record with the Boilermakers and 2-0 while at Southern Illinois during the 2003-04 season.
The two teams played a charity exhibition game in Oct. 2017, a 94-72 Boilermaker victory. Carsen Edwards and Dakota Mathias led Purdue with 16 points, while then-freshman Matt Haarms had 12 points, six rebounds and three blocks in 17 minutes of action.
Indiana State has not played Purdue in Mackey since December 13, 2008, a 76-62 Purdue win. That was the final game of a 2-for-1 with the Sycamores. Purdue also won in Mackey in 2007, but lost 89-70 in December 2006 in Terre Haute. The VAST majority of games in the 33 game series have been played in West Lafayette (27 in West Lafayette, 5 in Terre Haute, 1 in Indianapolis at the Fieldhouse).
The Trees have only made four NCAA tournament appearances, last in 2011, but they have had three of them in the last 20 years. This past year they were 18-12 overall, but finished third in the Missouri Valley Conference at 13-7. Greg Lansing has been in Terre Haute for 10 seasons now with one NCAA bid and two NIT bids.
This likely is not the season opener, as last season it came on November 6, but it will be pretty early on. The last time Indiana State faced a Big Ten team was November 10, 2017, when they smoked Indiana in Bloomington 90-69 during Archie Miller’s debut.
Here is the updated schedule as we know it:
TBD – Rider
TBD – Yale
TBD – ACC/Big Ten Challenge (likely road game)
TBD – Potential Gavitt Games (likely home game)
November 13 vs. Indiana State
November 24 vs. Illinois State, Clemson, or Mississippi State (Cancun Challenge)
November 25 vs. Illinois State, Clemson, or Mississippi State (Cancun Challenge)
December 13 vs. West Virginia (Barclay’s Center, Brooklyn, NY)
December 19 vs. Notre Dame (Crossroads Classic, Bankers Life Fieldhouse)
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