Purdue Basketball Clinches 25th Big Ten Championship
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Despite being stunned in a disappointing 79-71 loss at the hands of in-state rival Indiana on Saturday night inside Mackey Arena, Purdue clinched at least a share of the 2022-23 Big Ten regular-season championship as Maryland defeated No. 21 Northwestern at home.
The Wildcats were jostling for position atop the conference entering a matchup with the Terrapins at the Xfinity Center in College Park, Md., but Maryland finished undefeated in league play on its home court with a dominant 75-59 win Sunday afternoon.
Purdue has a 24-5 overall record this season, including a 13-5 mark in the Big Ten. The team has two games left to play, starting with a road matchup with Wisconsin on Thursday, March 2, at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis., before the regular-season finale against Illinois inside Mackey Arena on March 5.
Indiana, Maryland and Northwestern are all tied for second place in the league standings, each with an 11-7 record against Big Ten opponents at this point in the season. Michigan will have a chance to enter the mix with a win over Wisconsin at home Sunday afternoon inside the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Since their first college basketball season in 1896, the Boilermakers have won a league-best 25 Big Ten championships. The program has made it to the NCAA Tournament 32 times and has reached the Final Four twice.
Purdue was home to more than 30 NBA players, including two No. 1 overall picks in the NBA Draft.
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.