GoldandBlack.com Purdue Basketball Game Preview: Memphis at Baha Mar
NASSAU, The Bahamas — No. 1 Purdue aims to continue its Thanksgiving Season dominance this week, as it opens Baha Mar Championship play Thursday vs. Memphis, with either Texas Tech or Wake Forest awaiting Friday.
BAHA MAR CHAMPIONSHIP
DETAILS: Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025 | 6 p.m. ET | TV: CBS Sports Network (Chris Sylvester, Kyle Macy, Ana Bellinghausen) | Radio: Purdue Radio Network
PURDUE (4-0): ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS
MEMPHIS (1-2): ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS
A FEW THINGS ABOUT PURDUE
• Purdue has won its past four MTE appearances, riding a 10-game winning streak. Senior Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer have never lost a multi-team event game, nor has classmate Trey Kaufman-Renn seen one, as he was redshirting for the 2022 team that beat North Carolina and Villanova to win the Hall of Fame Tip-Off in Connecticut.
• The Boilermakers are off to a strong shooting start, at 40.7 percent through four games, paced by Fletcher Loyer’s 14-of-27.
• Purdue’s been dominant on the offensive glass, having retrieved 61 offensive rebounds, nearly 43 percent of its eligible misses.
ABOUT MEMPHIS
• Penny Hardaway’s Tigers are in a tough spot, sitting at 1-2, coming off an ugly home loss to unspectacular UNLV that followed a respectable loss at Ole Miss.
Memphis has lived by the portal but this season might be dying by it, as star PJ Haggerty‘s springtime departure, along with several other knee personnel losses, kneecapped this roster.
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• Senior newcomer Sincere Parker leads Memphis at 12.2 point per game. If the name rings a bell, it’s because Parker played against Purdue for McNeese State in last year’s NCAA Tournament in Providence. Parker scored a game 17 points off the bench.
Other familiar names Purdue will see vs. the Tigers: Dug McDaniel (10.7 points), who played for Juwan Howard at Michigan, and Aaron Bradshaw, the 7-footer who played last season at Ohio State.
THREE KEYS FOR PURDUE
| TURNOVERS | DUG MCDANIEL | PHYSICALITY |
| Memphis may need to be in transition to compete here. Purdue has had a few of those spells of turnovers leading to scores for the opponent. | The former Wolverine was drama at Michigan, but he can score. His quickness will test Purdue’s dribble defense and help structure. Just need to make him inefficient. | The Tigers have a couple 7-footers Purdue will need to keep off the glass and try to outmuscle around the basket. When Purdue goes to its bench up front, there are sometimes rebounding worries. |
THREE THOUGHTS
• Memphis might be the sort of opponent where Purdue’s structure and discipline are real problems, along with Braden Smith‘s ability to get to the end of the shot clock and make something happen. Every team is different, but nothing thus far suggests Memphis to be a particularly patient or disciplined group and the continuity factor looms large right now for Purdue. Its chemistry alone should be a difference-maker against a thrown-together Memphis roster that may get better as the season progresses, but might understandably keep struggling this early on.
• Basketball in ballrooms is different. Purdue should be used to anything and everything now, but it is different. Same for everybody, though.
• Purdue fans always turn out well for these events. Don’t be surprised if in an intimate setting, there’s an advantage here.
GOLDANDBLACK.COM PREDICTION: PURDUE 80, MEMPHIS 65
Purdue’s been really good in events like these over the years and showed a pretty professional approach in a letdown-game sort of moment Sunday night vs. Akron. It’s early, but Memphis might have a long season ahead.
