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Purdue heads into Big Ten Tournament with much to play for

In seven of the past nine seasons and many, many more before that, Purdue's 15-3 Big Ten record would have been good enough for at least a share of the league's regular season title.

This year, it was not, as the Boilermakers won one more than they did last year in winning the league by two games, but nevertheless missed their second consecutive conference crown after losing two toss-up outcomes to Ohio State and at Michigan State, then paying dearly for its one true wrong-kind-of-outlier showing, a hideous loss at Wisconsin.

Purdue finished a game short.

This week's Big Ten Tournament would be a nice consolation prize, though, for the ninth-ranked Boilermakers, who are within striking distance of the first 30-win season in school history.

"Coach Painter's communicated to us, 'Hey, look, our goals are still there and if you still want to hang a banner this year, win the tournament,'" center Isaac Haas said. "Plus, we still have a chance to be a No. 1 seed. And those are our goals right now."

With an extended break built into the schedule following Sunday afternoon's Big Ten Tournament title game, for those that make it, and the March 15-16 NCAA Tournament openers, ample opportunities to rest will come upon return from New York City. So if there was ever any thought that checking out of the tournament early might be a backhanded benefit, that's off the table now.

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Purdue, which lost in its opener to Michigan last year in D.C. in a game it practically had won, is intent to represent itself well in the event it's once won and twice finished runner-up.

"You have to go there and keep your focus on your first opponent, and we don't know who our first opponent is," Painter said, "so there's really nothing to talk about beside yourself.

"You have to do a good job of rebounding the basketball. We handed out some rebounding statistics individually yesterday, just trying to get our guys to understand how important that's going to be for us to execute at the offensive end, rebound the basketball and win the possession war."

Purdue is whole again, with senior Vincent Edwards having returned from an ankle injury for Sunday's senior day game vs. Minnesota.

The ankle is "a lot better," he said, but a work in progress nonetheless, a work that'll be tested by tournament format, should Purdue advance past Friday night's meeting with either Indiana or Rutgers or Minnesota.

"With me as far as my health, we'll look at it. (Trainer Chad Young) will keep tabs on it," Edwards said. "So will Coach Paint. If I need to be limited in minutes some games, then it's kind of an is-what-it-is thing. Health is more important. But, of course, they know I'm not going to tell them to take me out. So they've kind of got to guess that on their own."

The location — and the reason for this season's disjointed schedule from the start of the Big Ten season all the way to Selection Sunday — is Madison Square Garden, where Purdue's recent track record is solid.

It was just one game last season, but when the Boilermakers visited MSG last year for the Jimmy V. Classic, it pounded Arizona State 97-64, a game it led by 26 at half after Carsen Edwards' buzzer-beating three, one of 15 Boilermaker triples that night.

"It's a cool place," said Carsen Edwards, who was named first-team All-Big Ten Monday. "I just enjoyed the whole atmosphere of it, of who's come through there and played there. I enjoyed it and am looking forward to it (again)."

Reminded that Purdue played pretty well in its last trip to the Big Apple, Edwards let out a quiet, but extended, "yeah."

"And hopefully we can keep that going," he said.

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