Purdue seniors look to complete Big Ten road circuit

Sunday is a checkmark game for Purdue’s seniors.

Mason Gillis, Ethan Morton and Zach Edey have walked into nearly every Big Ten arena as visitors – from Lincoln, Neb., stretching to College Park, Md. –  and walked out with at least one victory.

There’s one left on the list – Jersey Mike’s Arena at Rutgers (1 p.m., FOX).

It hasn’t always been called Jersey Mike’s – the locals and old-timers still refer to it as the RAC (Rutgers Athletic Center) – and the Boilermakers haven’t enjoyed a lot of recent success regardless of the name.

“You’re always looking to put something in front of them for motivation,” coach Matt Painter said. “We’re trying to win a Big Ten championship and trying to put yourself in the best possible situation in the NCAA tournament. We’ve done a lot of good things up to this point, but yeah, that’s something that they’ll know.”

The 8,000-set facility was the scene for the Boilermakers’ first game as the top-ranked team in program history in December 2021. But Ron Harper Jr. drained a 3-pointer just inside of halfcourt at the buzzer to stun Painter’s team.

Harper dribbled between Morton and Jaden Ivey and unleashed a bucket of heartbreak four days after Purdue ascended to the No. 1 spot. Morton was in disbelief, hunching over with his hands on his knees while fans stormed the court around him.

That was then but this is now for the seniors.

“It would be super cool,” Morton said. “We’ve been fortunate to win a lot of games the last couple of years. It would be cool to finish it out.

“Just the respect we have for that program. They do things the right way. They play hard, scrappy and coach (Steve) Pikiell has done an unbelievable job. They’ve given us problems in the past. We want to go in there and take care of business.”

Winning at Rutgers for these seniors only matters because it’s another victory in the race for a second-straight Big Ten championship.

“It hasn’t really been on my mind, but it does come down to that – I’ve never won there,” Gillis said. “It will be nice to say whenever I’m done with my college career, we won in every single Big Ten gym. That’s not the end all deal. Our goal is to win games day in and day out.”

The senior group is 19-15 on the road in Big Ten play, including 2-2 this season. Purdue won at Rutgers in 2017-18, the last of an eight-game winning streak under Painter but the Boilermakers have dropped five of the last seven games in the series.

The Scarlet Knights have been a thorn, knocking off Purdue twice when it’s been ranked No. 1.

“They’ve been good – he’s a good coach, and offensively, they do a lot of good things,” Painter said. “We haven’t shot the ball well, but I think a lot of the we haven’t shot the ball well had to do with their defense.

“The one thing I know we have is a lot of respect for Rutgers, a lot of respect for their players and their program, how hard they play, how they go about it. Winning there would be a huge accomplishment for us out of the respect we have for them.”