Matt Painter Climbs Up List of Winningest Coaches in Big Ten Games
Matt Painter continues to climb up the Big Ten wins ladder. With Sunday's 79-61 win over Northwestern, the longtime leader of Purdue now has the fourth-most conference wins of any coach in league history.
Purdue improved to 3-1 in Big Ten play with Sunday's win, giving Painter his 229th career conference victory. He passed former Boilermaker coach Ward "Piggy" Lambert for fourth place.
The three coaches that remain ahead of Painter are all legends. Former Indiana coach Bob Knight still ranks No. 1, racking up 355 Big Ten wins while in Bloomington. Current Michigan State coach Tom Izzo sits in second place with 346 league victories.
In third place is another Purdue icon, Gene Keady. During his 25 seasons in West Lafayette, Keady compiled 265 Big Ten wins. That's right, three of the top-five all-time leaders in Big Ten wins were coaches at Purdue.
Not too shabby, is it?
Painter has 16 more chances to add to his conference win total this season. The Boilermakers are the two-time defending Big Ten champions and are hoping to add a third straight league title this year.
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