Purdue Fans Turn USC's Galen Center Into Home Game For Boilermakers
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Teams on the West Coast are quickly learning that Purdue fans travel in large numbers. One year after taking over arenas at Washington and Oregon, the Boilermaker faithful filled up USC's Galen Center for Saturday evening's Big Ten clash.
Before the game even started, Purdue fans could be heard chanting "Boiler Up!" during USC's introduction video. It created a Mackey-like environment 2,100 miles away from West Lafayette.
"It was great. Our fans were able to come out here on the West Coast and support us," coach Matt Painter said. "It was really cool. When you travel, you're up against it, right? To be able to have a good portion of the fans be Purdue fans, it just shows we have a loyal group."
🙌 Boiler Nation showed out.
— Purdue Men's Basketball (@BoilerBall) January 18, 2026
Mackey West. pic.twitter.com/dYAssI23Ic
It didn't take long for players to notice that the Galen Center was packed with black-and-gold for Saturday's matchup between the fifth-ranked Boilermakers and the Trojans. Center Oscar Cluff said when he ran onto the floor, he could tell it was going to be a pro-Purdue crowd.
"They cheered for us louder than the USC people cheered for them when we first walked out," he said. "I was like, 'Oh, this is like a home game.' I had goosebumps."
Kraig Bowers of the Boilers in the Stands podcast captured Purdue fans cheering prior to tipoff in Saturday's game.
It has to feel so deflating to a home team, when the opposing fans outnumber your own 3-1, and you hear this, at this volume during final warmups. pic.twitter.com/cEew0YdsZT
— Kraig Bowers (@kraigbowers34) January 17, 2026
Traveling in large numbers is nothing new for Purdue fans. The Boilermaker faithful had big crowds for games against Washington and Oregon in the Pacific Northwest last season. Two years ago, black-and-gold apparel filled Michigan's Crisler Center in Ann Arbor.
Do we need to get into how many fans made the journey to Phoenix for the Final Four in 2024?
Going on the road is never easy in the Big Ten. But for Purdue, life can be a little bit easier with a crowd full of Boilermaker fans inside the arena. Redshirt freshman Jack Benter said it undoubtedly helped the team leave the Galen Center with a 69-64 victory over USC to remain undefeated in Big Ten play.
"I heard there were quite a few people traveling, but I had no clue it was going to be like this," Benter said. "It was crazy, it felt like it was a home game. They had their students here, but other than that, it was pretty much all of our fans here. It was pretty neat."
100 straight home sellouts
Purdue fans don't only travel well, they've also been incredibly loyal when the team plays its home games at Mackey Arena. On Wednesday night, the Boilermakers had their 100th consecutive sellout, dating back to the 2019 season.
It has provided the Boilers with an incredible home-court advantage. In those 100 games, Purdue has posted an 89-11 record. It's a big reason why they've had so much success at Keady Court in recent years.
Mackey Arena has become known as one of the most intimidating college basketball environments and continues to be one of the best venues in the sport.
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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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