The University of Southern Indiana men’s basketball team will open the 2016-17 season by visiting the Boilermakers of Purdue University November 1 for an exhibition contest. Tip-off time in West Lafayette, Indiana, is still to be announced.
“I am grateful to Head Coach Matt Painter for the opportunity to compete against the Purdue Boilermakers,” said USI Head Coach Rodney Watson. “They return a veteran team, including future NBA players Caleb Swanigan and Isaac Haas.
“This will be the start of an extremely demanding November schedule that contains the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic at the Ford Center and the GLVC/GLIAC Challenge at the University of Indianapolis,” continued Watson. “Our guys are on campus this summer getting ready for the upcoming season and we are excited for this challenge. All of this prepares us for the GLVC and beyond.”
The Screaming Eagles, who were 19-11 overall in 2015-16 and advanced to the GLVC Tournament after posting a 10-8 conference mark, are led by returning senior guard/forward Jeril Taylor (Louisville, Kentucky), who averaged 16.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per contest.
USI also will feature senior guard Bobo Drummond (Peoria, Illinois), an All-GLVC performer who averaged 13.2 points and 3.4 assists per game, and sophomore guard Alex Stein (Evansville, Indiana), the 2016 GLVC Freshman of the Year who averaged 14.2 points per contest.
Purdue is coming off a 26-9 season and was one of 10 teams nationally to be ranked the top 25 of the NCAA Division I throughout the entirety of 2015-16. The Boilermakers finished tied for third in the Big Ten Conference with a 12-6 record.
The USI-Purdue exhibition contest features a rematch of the 2015 IHSAA Class 4A championship game, which featured Evansville Reitz High School, led by Stein and USI sophomore forward Jacob Norman(Evansville, Indiana), and Fort Wayne Homestead High School, led by Purdue’s Swanigan.
“This is a great opportunity to play (Swanigan) once again,” said Stein, who outscored Swanigan in that 2015 championship game, 26-20. “He is a great player and it will be fun to match-up with him once again. I hope there is a great USI crowd there to support us against the Boilermakers.”
Norman echoed Stein thoughts by saying, “(Swanigan) is a really good player and I enjoy playing against the best. This game should be a lot of fun.”
The GLVC/GLIAC Challenge, which will feature USI against Ashland University and Lake Erie College, is slated for November 12-13, while the SCB Hall of Fame Classic, featuring the Eagles against Florida Southern College and Kentucky Wesleyan College, is scheduled for November 18-19.
