The Purdue-IU basketball rivalry is alive again, showing why it means more in Indiana

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Four weekends ago, I was back home in Fort Wayne, Indiana, to surprise my little sister at her show choir competition. Quick brag: My sister is, all biases aside, the best singer at Carroll High School.

Anyway, that was the same weekend of the first Purdue-Indiana men’s basketball game this season.

When I accepted this job back in October 2021, I waited to let my readers know I was a Boilermaker fan — I follow Purdue men’s basketball more religiously than any of my other teams — because I quickly realized I was vastly outnumbered by the Hoosier fans in Richmond. It wasn’t until some IU faithful tweeted they were going to try to “Find Zach” — y’all know and love the game — at the Crossroads Classic two months later that I let everyone know where my allegiance lied.

'A legend at Northeastern':Brent Ross breaks former coach Tom Zell’s wins record

'We live and die with him':Lincoln senior Tyler Wyles scores 1,000 career points

Back to 2023. I watched my sister perform, and then, I left to watch the game. You know what happened next: No. 21 IU upset No. 1 Purdue at Assembly Hall, fans stormed the court, yada yada yada.

I met up with my good friend, Steve, a huge Indiana fan, afterwards. He was wearing a red and white hat with matching shoes, socks, jacket and a jersey underneath. After all his jokes and teasing, he said, “If this is what IU-Purdue is going to be like, sign me up.”

More:IU basketball holds on, knocks off No. 1 Purdue in electric Assembly Hall: 'We didn't cave.'

Doyel:Nobody was beating IU today — not even No. 1 Purdue. Assembly Hall made sure of it.

If I’m being completely honest, I felt the same way. No, I wasn’t happy the Boilers lost, but it was a good, competitive game between two ranked opponents. Prior to that day, the last time Purdue and Indiana played each other when they were both ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 was Feb. 20, 2016. That game seven years ago was also IU’s last win over Purdue before the Boilers went on to win the next nine meetings. Since then, IU has won three of the last four, but all four of them have been close games. It never gets old beating up on your rival, but I love watching good competition. That’s why I wasn’t completely heartbroken Feb. 4, 2023.

For the next three weeks, leading up to the Feb. 25 matchup, Steve and I were trying to figure out if we could attend the next game together. It would be my first Purdue-IU game (believe it or not) and Steve’s first time in Mackey Arena. Neither of us wanted to go tens of thousands of dollars into debt just to sit in the nosebleeds — yes, tickets were going for that much — so we applied for media credentials. My editor gave me the green light to write this column, the point of which I’m getting to, and Steve did his thing for his media outlet in Fort Wayne.

More:IU basketball's win over Purdue a reminder Hoosiers have homegrown talent, too.

Mackey Arena is known as one of the most intimidating places to play in the nation, and Steve got his first taste of that before we even walked onto the court. Steve had to use the restroom. As he was about to do his business, 6-foot-10 Purdue sophomore Caleb Furst, a Fort Wayne native, walked in behind him. Sparing the details, Steve got stage fright.

Soon after, he joined me courtside right next to the tunnel, and we watched the players warm up two hours before tipoff. Zach Edey walked right past us. I’m sure you’ve heard of him by now: 7-foot-4 Purdue junior, frontrunner for National Player of the Year. I can confirm he’s freakin’ huge.

Purdue’s student section, the Paint Crew, had already filled their seats. Again, it was two hours before tipoff. Indiana senior Xavier Johnson was the first Hoosier to take the court, and the Paint Crew welcomed him with a lengthy, collective boo. I just smiled. Steve looked around, nodded his head and said, “Yeah, this is impressive.”

At game time, we were on the floor, right next to the basket, across from Indiana’s bench among other photographers and videographers. Yeah, my long-time-coming first Purdue-IU game, and the game is right in front of me. If I took two steps forward, I would have been open for a corner 3-pointer.

We were also directly in front of the band. Mackey is loud, but that made it so much louder. We had to scream in each other’s ears to have a conversation. I’m honestly surprised I’m hearing fine now a few days later.

Mackey got quieter as the final seconds ran off the clock because the result was the same as it was three weeks prior. It was a great game, close the whole way, but IU came out on top. Steve was the one smiling this time. I was, too, but that was because someone in the crowd chucked a beer can that nailed Steve in the shoulder.

More:Jalen Hood-Schifino goes off as IU basketball sweeps Purdue for first time in a decade

Doyel:All of the sudden, IU looks like a Final Four contender, and Purdue, well, doesn't.

We were in the back-right corner of the media room for the post-game press conferences, and I had a question ready for Indiana coach Mike Woodson and Purdue coach Matt Painter. Here it is:

“I think it’s safe to say this IU-Purdue rivalry is as alive as it’s been in a few years. With how intense that Purdue-IU matchup has been in both games this season, what does that do for the fans, and how does that play into how basketball means more in the state of Indiana?”

That’s what I asked both coaches, and that’s the point of this column.

It’s safe to say the rivalry is alive again because it’s true. Nobody’s watching that game with a predetermined outcome in their mind anymore. Purdue’s 13 wins in the last 15 matchups before this season don’t matter anymore. This is Purdue-Indiana basketball, for my money the best rivalry in all of college sports. It truly does mean more in this state. Fittingly, IHSAA boys’ basketball sectionals are this week.

Sectional boys basketball:Breaking down Wayne County teams’ matchups a week ahead

Now, for the coaches’ answers.

Woodson had nothing but praise for both fanbases, noting that you can always tell that game means more to the fans because of how “jacked up” they get. It means more to Woodson, too. He never beat Purdue at Mackey Arena when he was a player at IU, and he couldn’t wipe the smile off his face while talking about this win as a coach.

As for Painter, he played his own game of “Find Zach” as I started to ask my question. Like I said, I was in the back-right corner, and I was talking into a microphone, so he couldn’t hear where my voice was coming from directly.

I started how all Wayne County coaches know I do, with “Coach …” Painter had a confused look on his face as his eyes darted around the room looking for me. “Over here in the corner,” I said. He found me and said, “Thank you, sir.”

He spent a couple minutes answering my question as I nodded along, just like he did four years ago when I covered a Purdue-Ball State game Nov. 10, 2018, for The Ball State Daily News.

If there were any positives for me after watching my team lose to its rival, I was the guy who got Painter to make a joke during the press conference. Here’s how that went:

“I think 1994 was the last time we played when both teams were ranked. Is that right? Did I see that right on Twitter? Because there’s no way Twitter can be wrong, right? So, that has to be a fact. So, laughing is a lot better than crying.”

All the reporters in the room laughed. Painter was looking up to his right doing his best McKayla Maroney impression. What made it even more funny was Twitter was wrong. Like I stated earlier, 2016 was the last time they were both ranked when they played, not 1994.

Painter went on to talk about something that really hit home for me as a fan and made me proud to have him as the coach of my favorite team.

“I’ve had opportunities to leave,” he said. “One of the things I always think about if I leave and I’m not the coach of Purdue is I can’t walk back into Assembly Hall and compete against (Indiana) as the coach of Purdue, and that bothers me. It’s a great feeling. Not always are you going to be successful, and I think that’s what keeps you coming back for more. People can dissect you, but people can’t tell you how you feel.”

I think that about says it all. The Purdue-IU rivalry is back, and if this is what it’s going to be like, sign me up.

Zach Piatt is a reporter for The Palladium-Item. Contact him at zpiatt@gannett.com or on Twitter @zachpiatt13.

This article originally appeared on Richmond Palladium-Item: The Purdue-IU basketball rivalry is alive again, and I'm here for it