#23 Purdue Beats Green Bay in Season Opener

By: Ethan Hennessy

West Lafayette Indiana

On Wednesday night Purdue unveiled their Big Ten record 24th conference championship banner for men’s basketball before a sold out crowd inside Mackey Arena that was there to see the #23 ranked boilers take on Green Bay to open up both teams 2019-20 season campaign. Purdue won the game 79-57.

Purdue’s 2019 Big Ten Championship banner in the rafter of Mackey Arena was unveiled pre-game.  

The boilermakers jumped out to a 14-2 lead by the 14:21 mark. Green Bay rallied back cutting the lead to four after going on an 8-0 run over the next four minuets, but that is the closest they would get for the rest of the game. Purdue led by 13 at the break, and won the game by 22. They were led by High Point grad transfer Jahaad Proctor who had who had 26 points and five rebounds before fouling out, and Matt Haarms who had 15 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists.

Another sellout at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette Indiana. 

Another storyline of the game was Linc Darner’s return to Purdue. Darner was on the 1994-95 team along with Matt Painter. I asked Matt Painter after the game what went into scheduling this game against coach Darner. He said that they wanted to play a team that is older and has had success such as Green Bay. Green Bay was a 21 win team that reached the CIT finals last season.

“The thing we try to do is play people that are different, and they are a lot different than we usually see. They (Green Bay) are smaller, quicker, more athletic. That gives you problems.” – Purdue coach Matt Painter

Next up for #23 Purdue they host the Texas Longhorns on Saturday. Green Bay hosts UW Stout also on Saturday.