Purdue’s Seniors Complete the Delaney Dozen

Coming into this season Purdue’s four seniors of P.J. Thompson, Dakota Mathias, Vince Edwards, and Isaac Haas needed three wins to complete what should be called the Delaney Dozen. If Purdue managed to win this season at Michigan, Iowa, and Illinois those four would finish their careers with at least one win in all 14 Big Ten arenas. Let’s go back and look at the first Big Ten win in all of them.

Mackey Arena – December 31, 2014 – Purdue 72, Minnesota 68 – This is the easiest one, of course. In some arenas these guys only had two chances, but with Mackey they would get 36. They check it off in the very first game. Kendall Stephens leads us with 19 points and Rapheal Davis has 18. As for the current seniors, Haas had 6 and Vince had 8, while the other two were scoreless.

Bryce Jordan Mausoleum – January 17, 2015 – Purdue 84, Penn State 77 (OT) – Kendall also had a huge role in this one, as it was his rebound and late three that sent the game to overtime where Purdue would win. He finished with 22 and A.J. Hammons had 21. Dakota had 7, Haas had 5, Vince had 11, and P.J. was scoreless.

Welsh-Ryan Arena – January 31, 2015 – Purdue 68, Northwestern 60 – Later on these seniors would officially close the building (Welsh-Ryan is closed this season for extensive renovations and Purdue won the finale there last season), but in this one Purdue had a 21-4 second half run for the win. Haas finished with 10, Vince with 7, Dakota was scoreless, and P.J. didn’t even play.

Louis Brown Athletic Center – February 12, 2015 – Purdue 61, Rutgers 51 – This was Purdue’s first trip to Rutgers since the Scarlet Knights joined the Big Ten and it was a successful one. Hammons led with 17 but the current seniors were relatively quiet. Vince had 7, Isaac and Dakota two each, while P.J. was scoreless.

Assembly Hall – February 19, 2015 – Purdue 67, Indiana 63 – Sure, it is now officially “Thompson Haas Edwards Mathias Assembly Hall” (suck it, Simon Skojdt) since this crew went 3-1 in Bloomington, but Purdue broke a four-year hex in Bloomington with this one. Jon Octeus murdered Collin Hartman in cold blood during the game as Hammons had 20. Haas finished with 12, Vince 2, Dakota 5, and P.J. was scoreless.

Kohl Center – December 19, 2015 – Purdue 61, Wisconsin 55 – The building that may end up costing Purdue the Big Ten title was conquered when these guys were sophomores. Hammons had 24 as the only played in double figures. Vince had 8, Haas 6, Mathias 6, and P.J. 6 (finally scoring in one of these!)

Williams Arena – January 27, 2016 – Purdue 68, Minnesota 64 – This is one of Vince’s first big games as he finished with 24 on 8 of 15 shooting. Since he lit Minnesota up there earlier this year he definitely likes this arena. Haas had 3, Dakota 5, and P.J. 1.

Pinnacle Bank Arena – March 1, 2016 – Purdue 81, Nebraska 62 – This was another big game for Vince as he finished with a team high 20. Mathias also had a nice night off the bench with 11. Haas added 8 while P.J. was scoreless.

Value City Arena – January 5, 2017 – Purdue 76, Ohio State 75 – A free throw by Caleb Swanigan with a few seconds left was the difference as Purdue got only its second win at the Discount Crappy Furniture Arena. Both he and Vince had 16 while Dakota had 14. Haas had 6 off the bench and P.J. also had 6, including a big late three.

Breslin Center -January 24, 2017 – Purdue 84, Michigan State 73 – Biggie faced a hostile crowd after his original commitment to Michigan State, but casually dropped a 25-17-3 to show he ran things. All four current seniors were in double figures as Haas had 11 and the other three 10 each.

Xfinity Center – February 4, 2017 – Purdue 73, Maryland 72 – This was a game Purdue absolutely stole. Carsen Edwards hit two free throws with 3 seconds left for the win as Purdue led for roughly a minute total of actual game time. Dakota had 12, P.J. 8 (with another big three), Haas 9, and it was Vince’s turn to go scoreless.

Crisler Arena – January 9, 2018 – Purdue 70, Michigan 69 – For the third time on this list Purdue won on a late free throw. This time it was Haas hitting as he finished with 17. Dakota had 14 and Vince 10 in this one. P.J. also had 6.

Carver-Hawkeye Arena – January 20, 2018 – Purdue 87, Iowa 64 – This was a bombs away game as Purdue set a Big Ten record with 20 made threes. We were 20 of 33 from long range, an absurd 60.6%. Vince had 19, P.J. 14, Dakota 12, and Haas only a quiet three. I am sure that if Haas had decided to shoot his first career three-point attempt he would have somehow made 4 of them.

State Farm Center – February 22, 2018 – Purdue 93, Illinois 86 – The final piece of the puzzle was last night, and it was Carsen Edwards time. Vince was out injured, but Dakota had 18, Haas 10, and P.J. 9 in a supporting role for the biggest individual scoring game by a Purdue player in 24 years.

In case you’re wondering, we also got a Delaney Dozen in Mackey Arena by beating all 13 teams at home too for these seniors. In fact, they did it before their sophomore year was over:

December 31, 2014 – Purdue 72, Minnesota 68

January 3, 2015 – Purdue 64, Michigan 51

January 24, 2015 – Purdue 67, Iowa 63

January 28, 2015 – Purdue 83, Indiana 67

February 4, 2015 – Purdue 60, Ohio State 58

February 15, 2015 – Purdue 66, Nebraska 54

February 26, 2015 – Purdue 92, Rutgers 85

March 7, 2015 – Purdue 63, Illinois 58

January 13, 2016 – Purdue 74, Penn State 57

February 9, 2016 – Purdue 82, Michigan State 81 (OT)

February 16, 2016 – Purdue 71, Northwestern 61

February 27, 2016 – Purdue 83, Maryland 79

March 6, 2016 – Purdue 91, Wisconsin 80