Purdue To Open 112th Season Of Men's Basketball On Friday

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Boilermakers look to win fifth season opener in as many tries under head coach Matt Painter.

Senior guard Mark Wohlford and the No. 7/7 Boilermakers open regular-season play against Cal State Northridge on Friday.

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Nov. 12, 2009

Complete Notes in PDF Format

Tip: 7:02 p.m. ET
Television: ESPN360. Jim Barbar (play-by-play) and Mac McCausland (analyst) call the action, and Eric Lilly produces.
Radio: The Purdue Sports Network (Flagship - WSHP, 95.7 FM). Larry "The Cliz" Clisby (play-by-play) and Ralph Taylor (analyst) call the action. Rob Blackman handles the pregame show, and Wes Scott engineers.
Rankings: Purdue is ranked seventh in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today polls. Cal State Northridge is not ranked in either poll.
Live Stats: GameTracker live stats are provided for each Purdue home game. A link to those stats is available at purduesports.com.

THE TIP-OFF
The 112th season of Purdue men's basketball will tip off on Friday, as the Boilermakers welcome back-to-back Big West champion Cal State Northridge to Mackey Arena ... Purdue is 91-20 all-time in season openers, and 4-0 under fifth-year head coach Matt Painter ... The Boilers are 76-9 all-time in season openers at home, and 24-4 at Mackey Arena on those occasions ... Purdue's average margin of victory in season openers during the Painter Era is 24.3 points, while the Old Gold and Black has posted a pair of 32-point wins (2006 and 2008) in season debuts under Painter.

UP NEXT
The Boilermakers will head to the U.S. Virgin Islands, where they will take on South Dakota State on Friday, Nov. 20, in the first round of the Paradise Jam ... Purdue has never faced SDSU, but is a perfect 8-0 all-time against teams from the Summit League ... Depending on its result against South Dakota State, Purdue will square off with either the winner of the loser of the first-round matchup between Boston College and Saint Joseph's on either Nov. 21 or 22 ... This will be the Boilers' first-ever appearance in the Paradise Jam.

HOUNDING DEFENSE DEFINES BOILERS' EXHIBITION SEASON
Though its games against California of Pennsylvania and Kentucky Wesleyan didn't count in the results or statistics, Purdue's defensive pressure was in full force during a pair of exhibition wins prior to the start of the campaign.

The Boilermakers limited their two exhibition foes to 29.5 percent (31-of-105) shooting from the field, including a mark of just 25.0 percent (9-of-36) from beyond the arc, en route to outscoring their opponents by a margin of 76.0-48.0 in preseason play. In its exhibition opener, Purdue held California of Pennsylvania to just a 2-of-12 (16.7 percent) effort from long distance.

The Boilers forced 52 turnovers in the two games, while only allowing 16 assists for an assist-to-turnover ratio of 0.31. Matt Painter's squad also enjoyed an average turnover margin of +9.0 in exhibition action.

Purdue also piled up 19 steals and 13 blocks in the exhibition campaign, led by Keaton Grant and JaJuan Johnson with five and six, respectively.

PURDUE FORCES 30 TURNOVERS FOR JUST FIFTH TIME IN PAINTER ERA
The Boilermakers' ballhawking defense induced California of Pennsylvania into 32 turnovers on Nov. 3, marking just the fifth time in head coach Matt Painter's tenure - exhibition or regular season - that Purdue has forced at least 30 turnovers in a game.

The first 30-turnover effort of the Painter era came in the exhibition over North Dakota (32) on Nov. 3, 2006, and the Old Gold and Black followed that up by forcing 33 turnovers against Northern Colorado in the season opener. The Boilers have posted one 30-turnover performance in each of the last two seasons, getting 30 out of Bethune-Cookman on Nov. 15, 2007, and taking the ball from Arkansas-Pine Bluff 35 times on Dec. 6, 2008.

BOILERS COME OUT OF EXHIBITION PLAY WITH HOT SHOOTING HAND
Two shooting performances of better than 40 percent in as many exhibition games has Purdue heading into the regular season with a collective hot hand from the field, as the Boilermakers will enter Friday night's opener against Cal State Northridge with five players that shot at least 44 percent in exhibition play (min. 10 attempts).

Freshman guard D.J. Byrd and junior forward/center JaJuan Johnson were the ringleaders of Purdue's hot exhibition shooting, hitting shots at a rate of 60.0 percent (6-of-10) and 52.9 percent (9-of-17), respectively. Senior Keaton Grant shot 50.0 percent (5-of-10) in exhibition play, while freshman forward Patrick Bade shot 47.1 percent (8-of-17) and frontcourt mate Robbie Hummel shot 44.4 percent (8-of-18).

BOILERMAKERS RANKED SEVENTH IN BOTH MAJOR PRESEASON POLLS
Purdue will open the 2009-10 season ranked in the top 10 of both major polls, garnering the No. 7 spot in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today preseason rankings.

The No. 7 ranking marked the Boilermakers first preseason top-10 nod from the AP since the organization listed them ninth prior to the 1997-98 campaign, a span of 11 seasons. The ranking was also Purdue's highest preseason ranking by the AP since it received No. 2 billing prior to the 1987-88 campaign.

The Boilers were included in the AP preseason top 10 for the sixth time in program history, and ranked in the AP preseason poll for the 17th time.

PURDUE NEARING RECORD FOR CONSECUTIVE WEEKS RANKED IN AP POLL
Including the recently-released preseason rankings, the Boilermakers have been ranked in the Associated Press poll for 26-consecutive weeks, a streak that began on Feb. 4, 2008. The Boilers' current run is just eight shy of the program record of 34 weeks, established twice from 1992-94 and 1997-99.

Purdue has spent five of those 26 weeks in the poll's top 10, and 13 weeks in the top 15 spots of the AP rankings.

CONSECUTIVE WEEKS RANKED IN THE AP POLL
34 - 1997-99
34 - 1992-94
33 - 1986-88
26 - 2008-09
20 - 1979-80

BOILERMAKERS PICKED SECOND IN BIG TEN
Returning all five starters from a team that advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 a year ago, defending Big Ten Tournament champion Purdue has been picked to finish second in the league this season in a vote by a 24-member media panel. The results of the vote were announced at Big Ten Basketball Media Day on Nov. 29.

Reigning Big Ten regular season champion Michigan State was the media's pick to win the league in 2009-10, and Ohio State was the predicted third-place finisher.

HUMMEL VOTED TO PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
For the second-consecutive year, Purdue forward Robbie Hummel has been voted to the five-man Big Ten Preseason All-Conference Team by the league's media. Hummel was named Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year in 2008, and ranked fourth in the league in rebounding and 15th in scoring last season with averages of 7.0 and 12.5, respectively.

Hummel was joined on the all-junior Preseason All-Conference Team by Talor Battle of Penn State, Manny Harris of Michigan, Kalin Lucas of Michigan State and Ohio State's Evan Turner.

HUMMEL, MOORE REPRESENT BOILERS ON WOODEN WATCH LIST
Purdue juniors Robbie Hummel and E'Twaun Moore have been named two of the 50 preseason candidates for the 2010 John R. Wooden Award All-American Team and Player of the Year trophy. Bestowed upon the nation's best player while taking into account academic considerations as well as on-court accomplishments, the Wooden Award is the most prestigious individual honor in college basketball.

Purdue is one of just nine schools in the nation to place more than one player on the preseason watch list.

HUMMEL NAMED TO NAISMITH TROPHY PRESEASON WATCH LIST
In addition to earning inclusion on the preseason watch list of the Wooden Award, junior forward Robbie Hummel was also one of just 50 players from across the nation to be named to the watch list for the Naismith Trophy. The list featured 33 upperclassmen, including 19 seniors and 14 juniors.

The list will be narrowed to 30 in late February, and four finalists will be chosen in March before the trophy is awarded at the 2010 Final Four in Indianapolis.

KRAMER ONE OF 30 CANDIDATES FOR LOWE'S SENIOR CLASS AWARD
Purdue senior guard Chris Kramer has been selected as one of just 30 men's candidates from across the nation for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award.

To be eligible for the award, a player must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and exemplify excellence in four areas: classroom, character, community and competition. The list of candidates will be narrowed to 10 midway through the season, and the award will be bestowed at the 2010 NCAA Final Four in Indianapolis.

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