'There's a lot at stake' as fifth-ranked Purdue seeks outright Big Ten title at Wisconsin

MADISON, Wis. – Ethan Morton was asleep early Sunday afternoon when his phone started buzzing.

The alerts were coming fast and furious that Purdue had won a share of the Big Ten regular-season championship when Maryland knocked off Northwestern.

The night before, the Boilermakers had a chance to earn a piece of the title but lost to Indiana.

“I was laying in my bed sleeping,” Morton said Wednesday afternoon. “I looked at my phone for about five minutes, and I probably should’ve taken in the moment more. Hopefully, we can rectify that (Thursday).”

And no, confetti didn’t fall from Morton’s ceiling.

Thursday is fifth-ranked Purdue’s chance to win the championship outright when it visits Wisconsin, which is trying to avoid playing on the first day of the Big Ten tournament and move off the NCAA tournament bubble.

The Boilermakers wrapped up the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten tournament based on the results from Tuesday and Wednesday but will look to claim the outright title with a win Thursday in Madison or Sunday against Illinois at Mackey Arena.

But there’s also the NCAA tournament and what another win or two would mean.

“There’s a lot at stake here,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “Outright Big Ten championship, NCAA tournament, seeding for the Big Ten tournament, and seeding for the NCAA tournament.”

Painter was at home Sunday, but he wasn’t watching the Northwestern-Maryland game when the final result gave the program its record 25^th championship.

“When you’re a part of it, it’s hard to reflect because you move to the next game,” Painter said. “That’s probably the toughest piece that you have that you can’t at the actual time celebrate when it happens because you’re not playing.

“It’s different, especially after you lose a game, and you have that feeling and the next day you find you share a piece of it.”

Still, the accomplishment shouldn’t be downplayed.

Purdue was picked fifth in the preseason media poll but rose to contender status after dominating the competition at the Phil Knight Legacy in Portland, Ore.

The Boilermakers have resided near the top of the Big Ten standings throughout the league season. The home loss to Rutgers in early January was followed by a nine-game winning streak which put Purdue firmly in control.

However, dropping four of their last six games brought the Boilermakers back to the pack but not enough to keep them from gaining at least a share of another championship.

“It’s weird. It probably hasn’t sunk in yet. Hopefully, after a win it sinks in a little bit more,” Morton said. “It’s something special we all can talk about it. The fact that we were able to do it, especially in a year when people thought that it wasn’t possible for us. It’s something really cool, and maybe we can gain some momentum back and keep things rolling.”

Along with winning the outright championship, Purdue needs to reverse its recent trend heading into the postseason. The Boilermakers are trying to secure the Big Ten tournament’s top seed but also stay in contention for one of the four No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament.

Both of those achievements are meaningful to Painter and the program.

“We’re trying to secure a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, so that’s a big thing for us if we were able to pull that off because you want to put yourself in the best possible position,” Painter said. “It doesn’t guarantee anything, but you want to keep improving as a program and keep getting yourself in those spots to try and give yourself the best chance to keep advancing.”