GoldandBlack.com Purdue Basketball Game Preview: Evansville

No. 1 Purdue’s much-anticipated 2025-2026 season begins now, as the Boilermakers open their season this evening by hosting in-state Evansville in Mackey Arena.

DETAILS: Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025 | 6:30 p.m. ET | TV: BTN (Kevin Kugler, Robbie Hummel) | Radio: Purdue Radio Network
PURDUE (—): ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS
EVANSVILLE (—): ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATS

Team	AP	Coaches	NET	KenPom	KenPom Win%
Purdue	1	1	—	3	99.5%
Evansville	—	—	—	248	00.5%

A FEW THINGS ABOUT PURDUE

• The Boilermakers open the season ranked No. 1 in both polls, the fourth time in five seasons they’ve topped the rankings. Purdue is 16-6 all-time when ranked first.

Led by what has to be the top senior class in college basketball, Purdue returns 77 percent of its starts, 69 percent of its minutes, 80 percent of its scoring, two-thirds of its rebounds and 90 percent of its assists from last season’s 24-win Sweet 16 team that was augmented almost ideally by springtime additions.

• Braden Smith, a consensus first-team All-American and Big Ten Player of the Year last season, heads into his senior season viewed widely as the top player in the sport and a front-runner for all those POY awards Zach Edey won.

But Trey Kaufman-Renn, now primarily a forward again, is also a preseason All-American.

• Purdue been top 12 nationally in offensive efficiency, according to KenPom, each of the past four seasons and opens the season projected at No. 1 now.

• Purdue’s won 32 consecutive home games in non-conference play.

ABOUT EVANSVILLE

• The Purple Aces have transfers on their roster from Pitt, Butler, Northern Illinois, Saint Louis (via Miami) and Vanderbilt (via Clemson). The list includes a few familiar names to those who follow regional recruiting. A.J. Casey was a former highly regarded recruit from Whiney Young in Chicago, a Hurricanes signee who was at SLU last season; sixth-year Alex Hemenway was recruited by Purdue some out of Southern Indiana before having some success during a full career at Clemson, before missing his entire season last year at Vandy.

• Evansville played an exhibition game Saturday vs. Henderson State from Arkansas, winning 90-74. N.C. Central fifth-year transfer Keishon Porter and Aussie big man Joshua Hughes each scored 22 points.

• UE was 11-21 last season in Year 1 under Coach David Ragland, but obviously has a very different roster now, as every team at that level probably will every year from here on out.

THREE KEYS FOR PURDUE

VALUE THE BALL	DEFENSIVE DETAIL	REBOUNDING
This is still ostensibly exhibition action for the top-ranked team in college basketball and time to build good habits.	This isn’t play time anymore. Purdue needs to be better containing the dribble than it’s shown in exhibitions.	This should be a strength now, but Purdue has to prove it.

THREE THOUGHTS

• This is an extension of the exhibition mini-season, so again, warped reality, but Matt Painter’s going to have to start working toward a firm rotation and sub patterns. There will be a process involved in both, but these few buy games Purdue has are continued opportunities to mess around with things. Game experience isn’t everything in terms of developing new players because practice matters, too, but you’d have to think that if Purdue needs to get Omer Mayer bulk minutes, the time is now.

• As Braden Smith chases a big-time career record, Purdue should unapologetically let him stat-pad if he wants. That may not mean leaving him in ’til the final horn, but there shouldn’t be too quick a hook. Smith has a real shot at Bobby Hurley’s career assists record and that’s too big a deal to not help him keep on pace or even ahead of it.

• Young players rarely shoot well in Year 1, but if Jack Benter‘s shooting translates right away, he might have a chance to do some real damage off the bench. Purdue’s “second unit” offense is another area that transforms this season.

GOLDANDBLACK.COM PREDICTION: PURDUE 100, EVANSVILLE 58

Purdue really only has five true buy games on its schedule, starting the season with two of ’em. Again, this is an extension of the exhibition season for all intents and purposes. Best part of this game is Evansville getting the badly needed revenue.