Analyzing the Rivalry: Wisconsin Basketball vs. Purdue

The hiring of then-Milwaukee head coach Bo Ryan yielded little fanfare outside the city of Madison.

Other than an improbable run to the Final Four in 2000, there had been few bright spots since the Badgers hung their 1947 Big Ten championship banner. Not only were there no Big Ten titles over that 54-year stretch, but Wisconsin also had four times as many losing seasons (32) as top-four finishes in the league (eight). There were just four NCAA tournament appearances, including 47 straight seasons without one.

So, when Dick Bennett abruptly retired in November 2000, he took with him some of the excitement as the Badgers stumbled to a 13-loss season and a first-round upset. Ryan and associate head coach Greg Gard didn’t wait long to change the culture.

Winning back-to-back Big Ten titles in their first two seasons, the Badgers have been dominant in winning 71.2 percent of its games during Ryan’s 14 seasons as head coach and in the last six-plus seasons under Gard (506-205 through Feb.20). UW has won eight Big Ten titles, appeared in 18 of the last 19 NCAA tournaments, and advanced to two Final Fours.

Since Ryan and Gard arrived, Wisconsin has the most Big Ten wins and the best winning percentage in the conference at 253-117 (.684) and has flipped many conference rivalries that had long been one-sided affairs.

Over the course of this Big Ten season, BadgerBlitz will examine Wisconsin’s series with the 13 other conference teams, what it was before Ryan and Gard arrived, what the series looks like now, and some memorable moments along the way.

Today, we conclude our series by looking at Wisconsin has competed against Purdue.

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Pre 2001-02: Purdue led 94-58

Since 2001-02: Purdue leads 17-15

Ryan’s Record vs. Purdue: 12-10 (3-7 in West Lafayette, Ind., 1-0 neutral)

Gard’s Record vs. Purdue: 3-7 (1-5 in West Lafayette, 0-0 neutral)

Record when both teams were ranked: Ryan 2-4; Gard 1-2

When Wisconsin was ranked, Purdue was not: Ryan 7-2, Gard 0-0

When Purdue was ranked, Wisconsin was not: Ryan 0-3, Gard 1-3

When both teams were unranked: Ryan 3-1, Gard 1-2

If you have read through the first 12 parts of this series, you’ll notice a theme against most the teams the Badgers have been playing against for over 100 years: Wisconsin was dominant at the onset of the series, evened out in the 30s, 40s, and 50s, and became a doormat for several decades. The series against Purdue is a prime example of that roller coaster.

In a 12-year period from when the series began in 1906 to the end of the 1918 season, the Badgers were 19-3 against the Boilermakers. It would take 34 years for Wisconsin to win its next 19 games in the series. Purdue had a winning record in the 20s (6-4), the 30s (12-2), the 40s (8-6) and the 50s (12-5). After splitting the 16 games in the 60s and the first six games in the 70s, Purdue went 32-1 from February 1974 through February 1990 that included 26 victories in a row. UW managed to be more competitive in the 90s and took out a couple decades worth of frustration in 2000 when the Badgers won a 64-60 game in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to advance to the Final Four.

The only one constant was UW’s inability to win at Mackey Arena. Entering the Ryan era, UW was 1-30 in the building, the only in 1972.

Under Ryan: Wisconsin’s 77-66 win over Purdue in 2002 was notable in UW history, making Ryan the first UW coach to win his first game against Purdue since Guy Lowman’s Badgers won a 21-16 squeaker in 1918. Ryan made more history three years later when the Badgers won their Big Ten opener, 77-68, at Purdue for only the second win at Mackey Arena. However, winning streaks were hard to come by, even when the Badgers had exceptional teams. In 2007-08, when the Badgers went 31-5 and swept the Big Ten titles with a 16-2 regular season, their only two conference losses were to Purdue. The Boilers also swept the series in 2009, marking one of only two times Ryan lost to a conference team four consecutive times.

“They played like us,” Ryan told BadgerBlitz. “They played hard. They valued the ball. You talk about loud; people talk about facilities in the Big Ten. As far as loud, Purdue’s acoustics were terrible for a visiting team. It was really tough to win there.”

The two programs split their next six meetings from 2010-13, including the Badgers winning on the road in 2012 and Purdue returning the favor in 2013 on UW’s Senior Day. That was Ryan’s final setback against Purdue, as he closed on a four-game winning streak.

Ryan’s 54.5 percent winning percentage against Purdue was his worst of the Big Ten opponents he played annually, showing how good the Boilermakers were against UW and just how good Ryan was overall to not having a losing record against any conference team.

Under Gard: The interim Gard got a tough draw in his first conference games and suffered a six-point loss to the Boilermakers at home. That was start of another four-game skid by the Badgers against the Boilers, the next three losses coming at Mackey Arena due to an odd scheduling quirk. UW broke the skid improbably in 2018, as an 11-16 Badgers team knocked off sixth-ranked Purdue at home.

Purdue won three of the next four meetings after the upset, including the only matchup in Madison during the 2019, tying them with Illinois for the most wins at the Kohl Center. However, UW delivered a momentum victory this past January in Mackey Arena behind 37 points from Johnny Davis, setting the stage for the Badgers to clinch a share of the conference title this week.

Overall, Ryan/Gard went 4-2 against Gene Keady and 11-15 against Matt Painter.

Assistant coach Gary Close, who coached in the Big Ten at Iowa and Wisconsin, on the homecourt advantage Purdue got from Mackey Arena

“It might be the toughest place to play. That place is crazy. At that place, even when Gene Keady was around, they had a 10-point advantage because that place was so loud, and Purdue played so physical. It felt like their theory is they’re going to foul as much as they could foul, because the officials aren’t going to call all of them, and we’ll disrupt them. We’ll give them a few fouls, but we’ll disrupt their flow and their continuity. Under Keady, it was physical and rough and tumble, like a football game, and the refs couldn’t call everything. It drove you crazy, but it worked. The physical part of the game, we were never as good there.

“They’re good but they were really good at home. Michigan State and Purdue were the two toughest teams to beat on the road. You needed to shoot really well from the perimeter to neutralize some of that physicality in the post.”

It’s hard to top the win from earlier this season in Mackey Arena, improving the Badgers to 5-42 in that building, and to be fair, the memorable moment might happen Tuesday night. However, one victory that stands out was one of the only bright moments of the 2017-18 season, a year marred by injuries, underperforming players, and the first sub.500 finish for the program in 20 years.

Wisconsin had lost nine of 11 Big Ten games entering February 15 and fallen well out of the Big Ten title race. Purdue was ranked sixth in the country and in the thick of a competitive race with Michigan State and Ohio State. It was a huge mismatch on paper, but there was a buzz in the building with the Badgers retiring Frank Kaminsky’s number 44 at halftime. One of the players Kaminsky helped mentor during the 2014-15 season – center Ethan Happ – certainly made him proud.

Happ delivered 21 points and 12 rebounds, freshman Brad Davison scored 16, and forward Khalil Iverson had 10 rebounds as UW stunned Purdue, 57-53, in a court-storming victory.

"It's funny how life works sometimes, to have this be the game with Frank, who taught me so much," Happ said. "It's very special to do that."

UW delivered one of its best defensive efforts of the season with Kaminsky, donning a red sport coat, watching from a luxury box. Purdue shot 39 percent (19 of 48) from the floor and just 23 percent (4 of 17) from the 3-point line. They were just 1 of 7 from the arc in the second half, including Carsen Edwards (game-high 22 points) missing a 3-pointer with 12 seconds left.

The Boilermakers led 39-32 with 9:37 left but made only three field goals the rest of the game. Purdue finished in a tie for second place in the league, one game behind Michigan State.

“You want to say `thanks' to Frank and `thanks' to all the alumni? The best way to show your respect ... go out and play really well,” Gard said.

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