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Hammer and Rails

https://www.hammerandrails.com/ | 317 entries published

Purdue's Okayest Blog

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Purdue Fans React Survey Results: Men’s Basketball Heads West

We’ve made it to the end of another week and that means it’s time to get some results from our weekly survey. We went with one basketball and one football this week. So let’s not waste any time, let’s just get right into these results. An overwhelming 66% of all respondents think that Purdue moving […]

19 days ago | 0 reads

Game Preview: #5 Purdue at USC

The #5 Purdue Boilermakers will hop on the plane and head out to sunny Los Angeles this weekend to take on the LA schools. Despite us still trying to wrap our heads around USC and UCLA being Big Ten teams, Purdue will take on USC this Saturday at 6:00 PM ET in the Galen Center. […]

19 days ago | 0 reads

Purdue Men’s Basketball Three Point Defense: Staff Roundtable

Given the outcome of the two most recent Big Ten basketball games, both of which saw Purdue’s opponent shoot 10+% points better from deep than their season averages, I wanted to asked the staff if that’s something we should be worried about. More precisely, I asked: After holding four straight opponents (Minnesota, Marquette, Auburn, Kent […]

19 days ago | 0 reads

By The Numbers: Purdue 79 Iowa 72

Purdue struggled in the first half and coming out for the second half but a flip seemed to switch for Purdue with about 15 minutes left. Suddenly, Smith was getting what he wanted and flashed his ability to take over a game on both sides on his way to 16 points, 4 rebounds, and 8 […]

20 days ago | 6 reads

Purdue 79, Iowa 72: Postgame Video

I always get very annoyed when Purdue loses at home. Since tonight was the 100th consecutive sellout at Mackey Arena and we are now 89-11 in that span (and how many of those 11 have come without a full Paint Crew?) you can understand why. I feel like we can only lose on Keady Court […]

21 days ago | 2 reads

Purdue Basketball: Iowa Preview – Stats, Analytics, Analysis

2025-2026 Season Overall Record: 12-4 Big 10 Record: 2-3 Previous 3 Games 1/11: L – 69-75 vs Illinois @ Home 1/6: L – 67 – 70 vs Minnesota @ Away 1/3: W – 74 – 61 vs UCLA @ Home Iowa Personnel Starters Bench Key Analytics (Per KenPom.com – National Rank in ()) KenPom Ranking – 21 Offense Adjusted […]

21 days ago | 5 reads

Non-Conference Opponents Update: January 14

Things are beginning to level out. For the past few weeks Purdue has been slightly behind a few other schools in the pursuit for a No. 1 seed. With Michigan and Iowa State getting their first losses that gap has narrowed. UConn has also had a few narrow escapes of late, making the top 10 […]

21 days ago | 0 reads

Game Preview: Iowa at #5 Purdue

#5 Purdue 15-1 (5-0) will host Iowa 12-4 (2-3) on Wednesday night. Purdue is off to a clean start in the Big Ten. Ben McCollum’s first year at Iowa has hit a recent speed bump after a hot start to the season. Iowa has lost its last two games, dropping a game at Minnesota and […]

21 days ago | 0 reads

Big Ten Basketball Power Rankings at the Quarter Pole

After this weekend’s action everyone in the conference has played at least five of their 20 Big Ten games, so we’re starting to get som separation in what is a bloated league. only two teams are at the top with undefeated league records. One is not a surprise, in preseason No. 1 Purdue. We live […]

23 days ago | 1 read

College Basketball Rankings January 12: Purdue Holds at 5

With Michigan getting upset by Wisconsin on Saturday I had hoped that Purdue could have leapfrogged them into the top 4, but the Wolverines only dropped two spots in this week’s poll after dropping their first game of the season. I think that is pretty fair, too. They have been very impressive until this past […]

23 days ago | 1 read

Boiler Alert Podcast: Purdue Men’s Basketball Moves to 5-0

Ryan and I are back with you to discuss the week that was in the Big Ten conference. Who did Purdue a favor by taking down a conference contender and who failed to do so? Plus, is Nebraska for real? Really seems like they might be. Ryan and I get into that in the first […]

23 days ago | 2 reads

By The Numbers: Purdue 93 Penn State 85

The Purdue Boilermakers fought off a valiant effort from Penn State to move to 5-0 in the B1G and push the Nittany Lions to 0-5 as well. It was a much more difficult game than most expected as Penn State shot 12% above their season average behind the arc on their way to making twelve […]

24 days ago | 2 reads

Purdue 93, Penn State 85: Postgame Video

Today’s postgame video post is a little late today, as I scalped a couple tickets and took my son up at the last minute this morning. It marked the first time in probably more than a decade that I have been to Mackey solely as a fan instead of sitting with the media, and it […]

25 days ago | 0 reads

Purdue Men’s Basketball Takes Down Penn State 93-85

Purdue came into this game undefeated in Big Ten play and looking to keep pace with a Nebraska team who just came back from a 16 point second half deficit to take down IU on the road and a Michigan team who was locked into a fight against the Wisconsin Badgers (a fight they would […]

25 days ago | 1 read

Game Preview: Penn State at #5 Purdue

#5 Purdue 14-1 (4-0) will play host to Penn State 9-6 (0-4) on Saturday afternoon in Mackey Arena. Purdue is coming off six straight victories, and despite a final score against Washington that made the game appear closer than it was, the Boilers are playing its best basketball of the season. It has yet to […]

26 days ago | 1 read

Big Ten Basketball Contenders: Staff Roundtable

It’s the end of the week and I wanted to do a second roundtable this week. While we focused on football on Wednesday’s post this one is all about men’s basketball. I wanted to know who is Purdue’s biggest challenger and maybe a dark horse for the Big Ten title this season. Ledman: The obvious […]

26 days ago | 1 read