How to Watch No. 1 Purdue vs. Eastern Illinois with TV Info, Key Players and Preview
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After winning the Baha Mar Championship last week, No. 1 Purdue returns to Mackey Arena to host Eastern Illinois for a matinee on Friday. The Boilermakers are looking to start the season 7-0 and remain unbeaten before playing their first Big Ten game next week.
Here's everything you need to know about Friday's clash between Purdue and Eastern Illinois.
#1 Purdue (6-0) vs. Eastern Illinois (2-4)
- What: Non-conference game
- Date: Friday, Nov. 28, 2025
- Tipoff time: Noon ET
- Location: Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind. (14,876 capacity)
- TV: Big Ten Network
- App: FOX Sports
- TV announcers: Jack Kizer (play-by-play), Bruce Weber (analyst)
- Radio: Purdue Global Radio Network — WAZY 96.5 FM (Lafayette); WKJG 100.9 FM (Fort Wayne); WNDE 1260 AM (Indianapolis); WGBF 1280 (Evansville); Sirius XM 390; View all listings: CLICK HERE
- Radio announcers: Rob Blackman (play-by-play), Bobby Riddell (analyst), Wes Scott (producer).
- Live stats: Purdue.StatBroadcast.com
- All-time series: Purdue leads the all-time series vs. Eastern Illinois 5-0
- Most recent: Purdue defeated Eastern Illinois 83-55 in West Lafayette on Nov. 20, 2013
Rankings
Purdue Boilermakers
- Associated Press — Purdue is ranked No. 1
- Coaches — Purdue is ranked No. 1
- KenPom — Purdue is ranked No. 2
- NCAA NET — Not available
Eastern Illinois Panthers
- Associated Press — Eastern Illinois is not ranked
- Coaches — Eastern Illinois is not ranked
- KenPom — Eastern Illinois is ranked No. 331
- NCAA NET — Not available
Team stats
Stats (per game) | #1 Purdue | Eastern Illinois |
|---|---|---|
Scoring | 86.5 ppg | 60.2 ppg |
Points allowed | 69.0 ppg | 71.8 ppg |
FG% | 49.6% | 39.9% |
3FG% | 41.4% | 27.5% |
Rebounds | 42.3 rpg | 30.8 rpg |
Assists | 19.8 apg | 10.2 apg |
Turnovers | 9.5 tpg | 14.0 tpg |
Steals | 4.2 spg | 5.5 spg |
Blocks | 3.7 bpg | 3.3 bpg |
Key Players
Purdue Boilermakers
- Braden Smith, G — Smith has looked like a National Player of the Year candidate through the first month of the college basketball season. He's averaging 14.3 points, 8.8 assists, and 3.8 rebounds per game, which includes a 29-point performance in a win over Alabama earlier this month. He's at his best when he gets his teammates involved and has been doing an excellent job of both scoring and distributing through six games.
- Fletcher Loyer, G — Loyer is Purdue's top scorer right now and has been a threat from long range, much like he has been throughout his career. He's averaging 16.3 points per game while shooting 47.6% from three-point range. He scored 30 in the opener against Evansville and was named MVP of the Baha Mar Championship after averaging 15 points in two games.
- Trey Kaufman-Renn, F — A senior leader, Kaufman-Renn has provided Purdue with a great spark in the post and on the glass. He missed the first two games due to injury, but has been dominant since his return. Kaufman-Renn is averaging 15 points and 11.8 rebounds per game, scoring in double figures in every contest. He has also recorded three double-doubles in four games.
- Oscar Cluff, C — Cluff really flexed his muscle as a dominant rebounder in the Baha Mar Championship. In the win over Texas Tech, he scored 15 points and collected 15 rebounds in a blowout victory. He's averaging 12 points and 11 rebounds per game, and is shooting 71.1% from the floor.
Eastern Illinois
- Kooper Jacobi, F — A former teammate of Purdue's Kaufman-Renn, Jacobi is probably the best all-around player for Eastern Illinois. He's averaging 11.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game for the Panthers. He was the OVC's leading rebounder last season, averaging 8.9 boards per game. He's only listed at 6-foot-7, but he's a fighter on the glass.
- Zion Fruster, G — Fruster did miss two games this season, but has been Eastern Illinois' top scorer so far this season, averaging 17.3 points per contest. That includes a 25-point performance in a 65-57 win over Nicholls State. He's also a solid defender, averaging 1.5 steals per game.
- Terry McMorris, F — McMorris is another player who fights on the glass, even though he's 6-foot-7 and tends to be undersized in the post. He's averaging a team-best 7.0 rebounds per game to go along with 10.7 points. McMorris has played well over the last three games, reaching double-digit scoring totals in all three contests and collecting 18 total rebounds.
The Coaches
Matt Painter, Purdue
Painter is in his 21st season at Purdue and his 22nd year overall with the Boilermakers. In that time, he's led the program to five Big Ten regular season championships, two Big Ten Tournament titles, 16 NCAA Tournament appearances, and a trip to the National Championship Game in 2024.
A lot of Purdue's success has come in the last decade, with the Boilers adding four Big Ten championships to their collection since the start of the 2016-17 season. Painter has had four different players win the Big Ten Player of the Year Award five times: JaJuan Johnson (2010), Caleb Swanigan (2017), Zach Edey (2023, 2024), and Braden Smith (2025).
Painter is a Purdue alum, playing under legendary coach Gene Keady from 1989-93. After his playing career ended, he jumped right into coaching, working as an assistant at Washington & Jefferson (Division III) and Barton (Division II) before getting a job at Eastern Illinois (1995 to 1998). Painter then joined former Purdue assistant coach Bruce Weber at Southern Illinois as an assistant from 1998 through 2003. Painter then became head coach of the Salukis for the 2003-04 season.
In 2004, Painter returned to Purdue as the associate head coach alongside Keady before taking over the program for the 2005-06 season. In a win over Akron on Nov. 16, 2025, Painter won his 500th career game as a head coach.
- Overall record: 502-220
- Record at Purdue: 477-215
Marty Simmons, Eastern Illinois
Marty Simmons is a seasoned coach who has 22 years of experience as a head coach and has also spent time on the bench as an assistant. A former Indiana and Evansville basketball player, Simmons is in his fifth season at Eastern Illinois and is still trying to get things rolling.
Simmons began his coaching career as an assistant at Evansville, where he worked from 1990 until 96. He then spent one year at Wartburg College (1996-97) as head coach before returning to the Purple Aces staff, where he stayed from 1997 through 2002.
He was then the head coach at SIU-Edwardsville from 2002 through 2007, and took the job at Evansville in 2007, where he stayed through the 2018 season. Simmons then worked as an assistant coach from 2018 until 2021 at Clemson before taking over at Eastern Illinois.
- Overall record: 226-264
- Record at Eastern Illinois: 42-89
Preview
There aren't many things that Eastern Illinois has done well, at least through its first six games of the season. But the Panthers will try to slow down the game, work the basketball into the paint, and aren't afraid to play a tight man-to-man defense.
Simmons' team doesn't take a lot of three-pointers and is shooting just 27.5% from behind the arc. Eastern Illinois also struggles to rebound the basketball and is averaging more turnovers than assists.
Enter Purdue, a team that has been rebounding at a high level since Kaufman-Renn's return and has been shooting the long ball at a 41.4% clip for the year. Those two factors alone give the Boilermakers a huge advantage.
With Kaufman-Renn, Cluff and Daniel Jacobsen in the post, Purdue should be able to take advantage of Eastern Illinois' limited size. If the Panthers double the post — which they like to do — the Boilers have enough shooters to knock down open shots.
Plus, as much as Eastern Illinois plays a tough-nosed defense, Purdue has done an excellent job avoiding turnovers, averaging fewer than 10 per game.
Any way you slice it, Purdue has a massive advantage in this game. This has the potential to be the most lopsided victory of the year for the Boilers.
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Dustin Schutte is the publisher of Purdue Boilermakers on SI and has spent more than a decade working in sports journalism. His career began in 2013, when he covered Big Ten football. He remained in that role for eight years before working at On SI to cover the Boilermakers. Dustin graduated from Manchester University in Indiana in 2010, where he played for the men's tennis team.
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