How to Watch Purdue Basketball's 2022-23 Season Opener Against Milwaukee on Tuesday
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The long-awaited return of the 2022-23 college basketball season is finally upon us, and Purdue is ready to open its new campaign with a home matchup with Milwaukee on Tuesday inside Mackey Arena.
The team is coming off a 102-57 exhibition win over Truman State less than a week ago, and the Boilermakers are entering the year unranked after finishing with a 29-8 overall record last season, which ended with a loss to the Saint Peter's Peacocks in the Sweet 16.
- LIVE BLOG: Once the game starts, follow all the action on our live blog. We'll have news, analysis and highlights straight from press row inside Mackey Arena. To read that story, CLICK HERE.
Purdue is 16-1 in season openers under head coach Matt Painter, having won the last nine by an average of 28.2 points. The team will look to add to that success when the Panthers come to West Lafayette.
"We don't have a ton of film, and from what the coaches said, it's a newer group of guys," Purdue junior guard Ethan Morton said ahead of the game. "They got a new coach, they brought in a lot of transfers from all different places. I think it's one of those games where it's more about us and just doing what we do. Being solid with our principles and our scheme."
Here's everything you need to know ahead of the matchup, including TV information, a look at Milwaukee coach Bart Lundy and three things to watch in the team's first showing of the season:
How to watch Purdue Boilermakers vs. Milwaukee Panthers
- Who: Purdue Boilermakers vs. Milwaukee Panthers
- What: Purdue's season opener for the 2022-23 college basketball season.
- When: 6:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Nov. 8.
- Where: Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind.
- TV: BTN
- TV Announcers: Kevin Kugler, Bruce Weber
- Radio: WAZY (96.5)
- Radio Announcers: Rob Blackman, Bobby Riddell, Wes Scott (producer)
- Last season's records: Purdue was 29-8 overall, including a 14-6 mark in Big Ten play. In the NCAA Tournament, the team defeated Yale and Texas before losing to Saint Peter's 67-64 in the Sweet 16. Milwaukee went 10-22 and 8-14 in the Horizon League.
Meet the coaches
Purdue: Matt Painter enters his 18th season as the head coach of Purdue basketball. He owns a 384-192 overall record with the program, including a 194-115 mark in the Big Ten. With just 16 more victories, Painter can become just the fifth coach in Big Ten history with 400 career wins while at a conference school, joining Bob Knight, Tom Izzo, Gene Keady and Lou Henson.
Painter began his head coaching career at Southern Illinois, leading the team atop the Missouri Valley Conference with a 25-5 overall record during the 2003-04 season, dropping only one game in league matchups.
Milwaukee: Bart Lundy is entering his first season at the helm for Milwaukee. He became the eighth head coach since the program moved to NCAA Division I in 1990. He was the head coach at Queens University of Charlotte from 2013-2022, which was his second stint with the program, and also spent time leading High Point University from 2003-2009. Lundy has a 433-189 overall record during his head coaching career.
Three things to watch from Purdue
1. Confidence and efficiency from the starting unit
It's no secret that Purdue is going to run its offense through star center Zach Edey, a preseason All-Big Ten selection, from the opening tip. His dominance in the paint calls for a cohesive unit featuring players that are willing passers and consistent decision-makers.
That's where Morton — alongside true freshmen guards Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer — comes into play. The trio was among the starters for both the team's scrimmage against Cincinnati and in its exhibition against Truman State. For the three of them, finding the right balance of aggressiveness and simply making the smart play will be something to look for early in the season.
"I just want them to make good decisions," Painter said. "Not really being aggressive, just taking what the defense gives them. When it's there, look for your shot. When you have angles, look to be aggressive and drive, but be under control. For us, if we can make good decisions, we're going to be OK."
The Boilermakers had only four turnovers in their exhibition game compared to 28 team assists. Morton, Smith and Loyer combined for just eight points in the win while Edey posted a team-high 23 points in 16 minutes on the floor. Loyer was 1-of-7 from the floor, making one 3-pointer, and Smith failed to score.
"At the end of the day, getting the ball inside and creating post doubles and getting teams in rotation is as good an offense as any," Morton said. "But still being aggressive on misses and stuff that we run.
"So it'll be important to find that balance, and different teams are going to obviously call for different types of games depending on how they play us. But it's always going to be important for us to be aggressive, just to open up things for Zach and everyone else that gets in there as well."
2. Frontcourt duo of Caleb Furst and Trey Kaufman-Renn
Redshirt freshman Trey Kaufman-Renn was excellent in Purdue's exhibition win, going 6-of-7 from the field for 15 points, including a 3-pointer, while also tallying six rebounds. He and sophomore Caleb Furst are among a strong frontcourt and will see more time under the basket when Edey makes his way to the bench.
But unlike their 7-foot-4 counterpart, Kaufman-Renn and Furst have the ability to stretch the floor, giving the Boilermakers are more dynamic look when substitutions are made.
"I think more than anything, they kind of have the same size, so how people match up to them is going to be interesting," Painter said. "Both of them are tough matchups. Together, I think they cause even a tougher look."
The two forwards, both part of the team's 2021 freshman class a year ago, will look to develop chemistry on the court that Purdue can take advantage of in games. In many ways, they are interchangeable on both ends of the floor, but the differences in their skill sets are sure to cause problems for opposing teams during the 2022-23 season.
"I think we definitely have some versatility with it," Furst said. "We're able to compliment each other well, kind of play of each other and switch between that four and five position on offense and defense, which definitely helps a lot."
Kaufman-Renn has already shown the ability to make space for himself in the paint to get easy shots to fall. And while Furst went 0-2 from the 3-point line in last week's exhibition, his ability to knock down jump shots on the perimeter will play a factor in making space for other players underneath the basket.
"He can really shoot," Kaufman-Renn said of Furst. "Whenever you have shooters on your team, it just gives you more space. People are really just going to have to pick their poison."
3. Combating a new-look Milwaukee program
In Lundy's first season at Milwaukee, the team returns just four players from last year's squad. The team lost its top seven scorers from the 2021-22 season, with redshirt senior Vin Baker Jr. coming back to the program after averaging 5.1 points and 3.2 rebounds per contest.
The Panthers will look to combat Edey with 7-foot-1 graduate center Moses Bol, who appeared in 25 games a season ago and made four starts.
"Their roster's turned upside down," Painter said. "They have a new coach, they have a couple of guys that are back from last year. A lot of athleticism, a lot of guys that are very versatile that can attack you off the bounce. I think it's going to be important for us to be able to handle their pressure."
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Related Stories:
- Zach Edey Leads Purdue in 102-57 Exhibition Win Over Truman State
- Quiet Showing From Freshmen Smith, Loyer Doesn't Paint Full Picture
- Brandon Newman, David Jenkins Jr. Showcase Shooting off the Bench
- Purdue to Honor Caleb Swanigan During the 2022-23 Season
- Purdue Unranked in Preseason AP Top 25 College Basketball Poll
- Purdue Basketball No. 25 in First KenPom Rankings of Season
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D.J. Fezler is a staff writer for BoilermakersCountry.com. Hailing from The Region, he is from Cedar Lake in Northwest Indiana and has spent the last two years covering Purdue football and basketball.