# 2017–18 Purdue Boilermakers men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Purdue Boilermakers men's basketball team represented Purdue University in the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Their head coach was Matt Painter, in his 13th season with the Boilers. The team played their home games in Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Indiana as members of the Big Ten Conference. The Boilermakers finished the season 30–7, 15–3 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for second place. As the No. 3 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they defeated Rutgers and Penn State before losing to Michigan in the championship game. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 2 seed in the East region. They defeated Cal State Fullerton in the First Round, but lost starting center Isaac Haas to a fractured elbow. Without Haas, they defeated Butler in the Second Round to advance to the Sweet Sixteen where they lost to No. 3 seed Texas Tech.

## Previous season

The Boilermakers finished the 2016–17 season 27–8, 14–4 to win the Big Ten regular season championship. In the Big Ten tournament, they lost in the finals to Michigan. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 4 seed in the Midwest Region where they beat Vermont and Iowa State to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. In their first trip to the Sweet Sixteen since 2010, they lost to No. 1-seeded and No. 3-ranked Kansas.

## Offseason
### Departures

Big Ten Player of the Year Caleb Swanigan declared in April for the NBA draft, but did not immediately sign with an agent. Isaac Haas and Vincent Edwards also declared for the draft, but also did not sign with an agent. On May 16, 2017, Haas announced he would withdraw from the NBA draft. On May 24, Edwards announced he would return to school. Also on May 24, Swanigan announced he would stay in the NBA draft and not return to school. On June 22, 2017, Swanigan was drafted in the first round (26th overall) by the Portland Trail Blazers.
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Jon McKeeman | 2 | G | 6'1" | 190 | RS Senior | Fort Wayne, IN | Walk-on; graduated |
| Caleb Swanigan | 50 | F | 6'9" | 250 | Sophomore | Fort Wayne, IN | Declared for 2017 NBA draft |
| Spike Albrecht | 55 | G | 6'0" | 180 | RS Senior | Crown Point, IN | Completed athletic eligibility; graduated from Michigan in 2016 |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Eden Ewing | 5 | PF | 6'7" | 215 | Junior | Richmond, TX | Junior college transfer from Tyler Junior College. |

### Recruiting classes
#### 2017 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Aaron Wheeler SF | Stamford, Connecticut | Brewster Academy | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Oct 17, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 78 ||||||
| Nojel Eastern PG | Evanston, Illinois | Evanston Township High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Nov 16, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 83 ||||||
| Sasha Stefanovic SG | Crown Point, Indiana | Crown Point High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | Feb 3, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Rivals: 27 ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2017 Purdue Signees". Rivals.com. Retrieved May 26, 2016. "2017 Purdue Signees". Scout.com. Retrieved May 26, 2016. "2017 Purdue Signees". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 26, 2016. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved May 26, 2016. "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved May 26, 2016. ||||||

#### 2018 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2018 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Trevion Williams C | Detroit, Michigan | Henry Ford II High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 250 lb (110 kg) | Jul 6, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Emmanuel Dowuona C | Miami, Florida | Westwood Christian School | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Sep 19, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Eric Hunter SG | Indianapolis, IN | Charles A. Tindley School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | Sep 25, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2018 Purdue Commits". Rivals.com. "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. |||||||

### World University Games

In August 2017, Purdue represented Team USA as the national team in the World University Games. They played exhibition games against Team Canada before traveling to Taipei to participate in the Games. Each team was guaranteed to play at least eight games throughout the entire World University Games. Purdue went 5–0 in pool play to advance to the medal round. They defeated Team Israel in the quarterfinals and defeated Team Serbia to advance to the Gold Medal Game against Team Lithuania. In the Gold Medal Game, the Boilers were defeated by Team Lithuania 85–74.

## Preseason

In its preseason rankings, the Blue Ribbon yearbook ranked Purdue as No. 14 in the country.

## Schedule and results

The 2018 Big Ten tournament will be held at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Due to the Big East's use of that venue for their conference tournament, the Big Ten tournament will take place one week earlier than usual, ending the week before Selection Sunday. This could result in teams having nearly two weeks off before the NCAA tournament.
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| World University Games Exhibition |||||||||
| Aug 11, 2017* 7:00 pm, Facebook Live | | vs. Team Canada | W 94–86 | | 20 – Haas | 11 – Haas | 4 – Mathias | Carmel High School Carmel, IN |
| Aug 12, 2017* 4:00 pm | | vs. Team Canada | W 103–91 $^{OT}$ | | 25 – Edwards, V. | 9 – Haas | 4 – Tied | Crawley Athletic Center Lafayette, IN |
| World University Games |||||||||
| Aug 20, 2017* 5:30 am | | vs. Team Argentina Pool play | W 89–76 | | 17 – Edwards, C. | 9 – Edwards, V. | 4 – Thompson | Taipei Arena (6,589) Taipei, Taiwan |
| Aug 21, 2017* 3:00 am | | vs. Team United Arab Emirates Pool play | W 127–53 | | 20 – Cline | 11 – Edwards, V. | 9 – Eastern | University of Taipei Gymnasium Taipei, Taiwan |
| Aug 23, 2017* 5:30 am | | vs. Team Czech Republic Pool play | W 107–78 | | 22 – Edwards, V. | 5 – Tied | 3 – Tied | Taipei Arena Taipei, Taiwan |
| Aug 24, 2017* 3:00 am | | vs. Team Romania Pool play | W 120–62 | | 17 – Stefanovic | 8 – Tied | 3 – Tied | Taipei Arena Taipei, Taiwan |
| Aug 25, 2017* 12:30 am | | vs. Team Estonia Pool play | W 101–61 | | 19 – Edwards, V. | 14 – Taylor | 7 – Cline | Taipei Arena Taipei, Taiwan |
| Aug 27, 2017* 3:00 am, CBSSN | | vs. Team Israel Quarterfinals | W 111–107 $^{OT}$ | | 36 – Edwards, C. | 9 – Edwards, V. | 6 – Edwards, V. | Taipei Arena Taipei, Taiwan |
| Aug 28, 2017* 12:30 am | | vs. Team Serbia Semifinals | W 93–61 | | 31 – Edwards, V. | 5 – Tied | 6 – Edwards, C. | Taipei Arena Taipei, Taiwan |
| Aug 29, 2017* 8:00 am | | vs. Team Lithuania Gold Medal Game | L 74–85 | | 23 – Edwards, C. | 7 – Taylor | 4 – Mathias | Taipei Arena Taipei, Taiwan |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| Oct 28, 2017* 3:00 pm | | Indiana State Hurricane Charity Exhibition | W 94–72 | | 16 – Tied | 7 – Edwards, V. | 6 – Edwards, V. | Mackey Arena (5,168) West Lafayette, IN |
| Nov 1, 2017* 7:00 pm, BTN+ | No. 20 | Carroll (Montana) | W 98–71 | | 20 – Edwards, V. | 7 – Eifert | 6 – Mathias | Mackey Arena (12,634) West Lafayette, IN |
| Regular season |||||||||
| Nov 10, 2017* 8:00 pm, BTN+ | No. 20 | SIU Edwardsville | W 105–74 | 1–0 | 18 – Mathias | 7 – Haas | 8 – Eastern | Mackey Arena (13,934) West Lafayette, IN |
| Nov 12, 2017* 4:00 pm, BTN | No. 20 | Chicago State | W 111–42 | 2–0 | 25 – Edwards, C. | 12 – Edwards, V. | 6 – Mathias | Mackey Arena (13,509) West Lafayette, IN |
| Nov 14, 2017* 8:30 pm, FS1 | No. 19 | at Marquette Gavitt Tipoff Games | W 86–71 | 3–0 | 22 – Haas | 8 – V. Edwards | 4 – D. Mathias | BMO Harris Bradley Center (13,307) Milwaukee, WI |
| Nov 18, 2017* 7:00 pm, BTN+ | No. 19 | Fairfield | W 106–64 | 4–0 | 23 – Mathias | 11 – Edwards, V. | 6 – Edwards, C. | Mackey Arena (14,804) West Lafayette, IN |
| Nov 22, 2017* 12:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 18 | vs. Tennessee Battle 4 Atlantis quarterfinals | L 75–78 $^{OT}$ | 4–1 | 21 – Edwards, C. | 13 – Edwards, V. | 5 – Edwards, V. | Imperial Arena (1,306) Nassau, Bahamas |
| Nov 23, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | No. 18 | vs. Western Kentucky Battle 4 Atlantis | L 73–77 | 4–2 | 22 – Haas | 6 – Tied | 7 – Mathias | Imperial Arena Nassau, Bahamas |
| Nov 24, 2017* 9:30 pm, ESPN3 | No. 18 | vs. No. 2 Arizona Battle 4 Atlantis 7th place game | W 89–64 | 5–2 | 24 – Mathias | 8 – Edwards, V. | 6 – Mathias | Imperial Arena Nassau, Bahamas |
| Nov 28, 2017* 8:00 pm, ESPN | | No. 17 Louisville ACC–Big Ten Challenge | W 66–57 | 6–2 | 15 – Edwards, V. | 7 – Edwards, V. | 2 – 3 Tied | Mackey Arena (14,804) West Lafayette, IN |
| Dec 1, 2017 7:00 pm, BTN | | at Maryland | W 80–75 | 7–2 (1–0) | 21 – Haas | 11 – Edwards, V. | 9 – Mathias | Xfinity Center (17,308) College Park, MD |
| Dec 3, 2017 4:00 pm, BTN | | Northwestern | W 74–69 | 8–2 (2–0) | 26 – Haas | 9 – Haas | 5 – Mathias | Mackey Arena (14,360) West Lafayette, IN |
| Dec 7, 2017* 6:30 pm, FS1 | No. 21 | Valparaiso | W 80–50 | 9–2 | 15 – Edwards, V. | 9 – Edwards, V. | 3 – Edwards, V. | Mackey Arena (14,232) West Lafayette, IN |
| Dec 10, 2017* 7:00 pm, BTN | No. 21 | IUPUI | W 86–61 | 10–2 | 27 – Edwards, C. | 12 – Edwards, V. | 6 – Thompson | Mackey Arena (13,641) West Lafayette, IN |
| Dec 16, 2017* 12:00 pm, FOX | No. 17 | vs. Butler Crossroads Classic | W 82–67 | 11–2 | 18 – Edwards, C. | 6 – Edwards, V. | 5 – Mathias | Bankers Life Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN |
| Dec 21, 2017* 6:00 pm, BTN | No. 16 | Tennessee State | W 97–48 | 12–2 | 26 – Edwards | 6 – Haarms | 10 – Mathias | Mackey Arena (12,679) West Lafayette, IN |
| Dec 30, 2017* 8:00 pm, BTN | No. 14 | Lipscomb | W 98–66 | 13–2 | 23 – Edwards, V. | 15 – Edwards, V. | 4 – Mathias | Mackey Arena (14,804) West Lafayette, IN |
| Jan 3, 2018 7:00 pm, BTN | No. 13 | Rutgers | W 82–51 | 14–2 (3–0) | 14 – Haas | 6 – 3 tied | 4 – C. Edwards | Mackey Arena (13,449) West Lafayette, IN |
| Jan 6, 2018 2:15 pm, BTN | No. 13 | Nebraska | W 74–62 | 15–2 (4–0) | 21 – Edwards V. | 10 – Edwards V. | 6 – Edwards V. | Mackey Arena (14,804) West Lafayette, IN |
| Jan 9, 2018 9:00 pm, ESPN | No. 5-t | at Michigan | W 70–69 | 16–2 (5–0) | 19 – C. Edwards | 6 – Haas | 5 – V. Edwards | Crisler Arena (10,164) Ann Arbor, MI |
| Jan 13, 2018 12:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 5-t | at Minnesota | W 81–47 | 17–2 (6–0) | 25 – V. Edwards | 10 – Eastern | 7 – C. Edwards | Williams Arena (12,459) Minneapolis, MN |
| Jan 16, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 3 | Wisconsin | W 78–50 | 18–2 (7–0) | 21 – C. Edwards | 5 – V. Edwards | 5 – Mathias | Mackey Arena (14,804) West Lafayette, IN |
| Jan 20, 2018 12:00 pm, ESPN | No. 3 | at Iowa | W 87–64 | 19–2 (8–0) | 22 – C. Edwards | 5 – Mathias | 8 – C. Edwards | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (14,822) Iowa City, IA |
| Jan 25, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 3 | No. 25 Michigan | W 92–88 | 20–2 (9–0) | 30 – V. Edwards | 6 – Haas | 5 – V. Edwards | Mackey Arena (14,804) West Lafayette, IN |
| Jan 28, 2018 3:30 pm, FOX | No. 3 | at Indiana Rivalry/Crimson and Gold Cup | W 74–67 | 21–2 (10–0) | 26 – Haas | 7 – V. Edwards | 5 – Mathias | Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (17,222) Bloomington, IN |
| Jan 31, 2018 8:30 pm, BTN | No. 3 | Maryland | W 75–67 | 22–2 (11–0) | 20 – Haas | 11 – V. Edwards | 5 – V. Edwards | Mackey Arena (14,804) West Lafayette, IN |
| Feb 3, 2018 4:00 pm, BTN | No. 3 | at Rutgers | W 78–76 | 23–2 (12–0) | 18 – V. Edwards | 8 – V. Edwards | 7 – V. Edwards | Louis Brown Athletic Center (8,318) Piscataway, NJ |
| Feb 7, 2018 8:30 pm, BTN | No. 3 | No. 14 Ohio State | L 63–64 | 23–3 (12–1) | 28 – C. Edwards | 9 – V. Edwards | 4 – Mathias | Mackey Arena (14,804) West Lafayette, IN |
| Feb 10, 2018 4:00 pm, ESPN | No. 3 | at No. 4 Michigan State | L 65–68 | 23–4 (12–2) | 25 – Haas | 7 – V. Edwards | 6 – 2 tied | Breslin Center (14,797) East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 15, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 6 | at Wisconsin | L 53–57 | 23–5 (12–3) | 22 – C. Edwards | 11 – Haas | 3 – C. Edwards | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| Feb 18, 2018 8:00 pm, BTN | No. 6 | Penn State | W 76–73 | 24–5 (13–3) | 27 – C. Edwards | 6 – Haas | 3 – Tied | Mackey Arena (14,804) West Lafayette, IN |
| Feb 22, 2018 6:00 pm, FS1 | No. 9 | at Illinois | W 93–86 | 25–5 (14–3) | 40 – C. Edwards | 8 – Mathias | 4 – Cline | State Farm Center (14,673) Champaign, IL |
| Feb 25, 2018 4:00 pm, FS1 | No. 9 | Minnesota | W 84–60 | 26–5 (15–3) | 25 – Mathias | 7 – Mathias | 7 – C. Edwards | Mackey Arena (14,804) West Lafayette, IN |
| Big Ten tournament |||||||||
| Mar 2, 2018 9:00 pm, BTN | (3) No. 8 | vs. (14) Rutgers Quarterfinals | W 82–75 | 27–5 | 26 – Tied | 10 – Haas | 7 – Mathias | Madison Square Garden (19,812) New York City, NY |
| Mar 3, 2018 4:30 pm, CBS | (3) No. 8 | vs. (7) Penn State Semifinals | W 78–70 | 28–5 | 27 – C. Edwards | 7 – Haas | 5 – V. Edwards | Madison Square Garden (19,812) New York City, NY |
| Mar 4, 2018 4:30 pm, CBS | (3) No. 8 | vs. (5) No. 15 Michigan Championship | L 66–75 | 28–6 | 23 – Haas | 8 – Tied | 2 – Tied | Madison Square Garden (19,812) New York City, NY |
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| Mar 16, 2018* 12:40 pm, truTV | (2 E) No. 11 | vs. (15 E) Cal State Fullerton First Round | W 74–48 | 29–6 | 15 – Tied | 10 – Haas | 3 – Haarms | Little Caesars Arena (20,163) Detroit, MI |
| Mar 18, 2018* 12:10 pm, CBS | (2 E) No. 11 | vs. (10 E) Butler Second Round | W 76–73 | 30–6 | 20 – V. Edwards | 6 – Haarms | 4 – Mathias | Little Caesars Arena (20,360) Detroit, MI |
| Mar 23, 2018* 10:07 pm, TBS | (2 E) No. 11 | vs. (3 E) No. 14 Texas Tech Sweet Sixteen | L 65–78 | 30–7 | 30 – C. Edwards | 13 – V. Edwards | 4 – Thompson | TD Garden (19,059) Boston, MA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. |||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking RV = Received votes ( ) = First-place votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final |
| AP | 20 | 19 | 18 | RV | 21 | 17 | 16 | 14 | 13 | 5 | 3 (1) | 3 (1) | 3 (1) | 3 (1) | 6 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 11 | Not released |
| Coaches | 21 | 21^ | 16 | RV | 21 | 17 | 16 | 13 | 12 | 7 | 3 (1) | 3 (1) | 3 (1) | 3 (1) | 7 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 9 |
^Coaches Poll did not release a Week 2 poll at the same time AP did. *AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings