It's been a hectic, crazy, filled with top-teams last month for Purdue basketball as it makes its way back to #1 in college basketball.

Purdue made it through the heart of its non-conference with a 10-1 record and the best resume in college basketball. The AP poll rewarded them on Monday.

For the second time this season, Purdue is the top ranked team in the country. It took just one game as #1 to lose it this season, dropping its first game as #1 to Northwestern on the road in overtime, 92-88.

Purdue shouldn't have any issue handling the likes of Kenpom's 273rd team in Jacksonville this week, but weirder things have already happened this season. That said, emotionally it will be interesting to see how Purdue takes its next two opponents around Christmas. Jacksonville will be before the players head home for the Holidays and Eastern Kentucky will be on December 29th. Both teams are above 200 in the rankings and don't post a threat on the court, in theory.

But Purdue just finished running an absolute gauntlet that saw it sweep the Maui Invitational against three top-11 teams, head to Toronto to beat Alabama, and Indianapolis where it beat the #1 team in the nation.

Will they get up for Jacksonville or will they be looking ahead to a little time off?

Does the purpose Purdue has responded with after losing to Northwestern carry all the way into the new year? If Purdue handles the rest of the year with the same commitment it's shown in bouncing back by beating Iowa, Alabama, and Arizona in a row, it's a good sign for the rest of the year.

"I think more than anything, playing with a purpose," Painter said about his team heading into a match up with Jacksonville before the Christmas break hits for the team.

"Go on Christmas break tomorrow at 9:00 pm," Painter went on to say about Purdue's game at 6:30 at Mackey Arena.

Purdue will wrap up its non-conference schedule when it gets back from Christmas break on December 29th and then will jump into the heart of its Big Ten schedule. Purdue's players and coaches will attempt to hold off the holiday cheer for one more day as they prepare for a Jacksonville team that has mostly beaten the teams it should have this season.

Jacksonville has a couple scorers at the guard spot, particularly Robert McCray V, who is averaging nearly 17 points a game. Marcus Niblack is another dangerous perimeter player averaging almost 13 points a game.

But as Purdue has ahead of every game this season, it will try to focus on itself and what the Boilermakers do right and wrong on the floor. If Purdue does that, it will avoid what happened when it was ranked #1 the first time this year, losing immediately to Northwestern. While the upset bug seems to be hanging around Big Ten teams this season, Purdue stands far and above the rest of the conference to this stage in the season.

There's a tradition at Purdue. With Matt Painter's defensive philosophy often resulting in leaving certain offensive players alone at the three-point line, it seems almost every time Purdue plays a team there is one individual that strikes out against their lifetime efficiency numbers from deep. Generally, it works out for Purdue. Even if a couple threes do fall, it's the guy shooting that they want.

For this game, DeeJuan Pruitt looks like a prime candidate to have a career day against Purdue. He is two of the most important things when it comes to have a big shooting day against Purdue - he's both inefficient and willing to chuck it. On the season, Pruitt is 1 of 11 from three going into Mackey Arena on Thursday.

It's a bad start for Pruitt who has actually shot the three at a decent volume for most of his career. Pruitt isa SIU Edwardsville transfer and attempted over 60 threes in each of his first two collegiate seasons. He's shot the three at 26% and 27% in those two seasons.

So expect Painter and Purdue's defense to be okay if Pruitt is given some space on the perimeter. Especially if Jacksonville is forced to play with Pruitt at the five against Edey.