MADISON, WI.–The #5 Purdue Boilermaker men’s basketball team won the Big Ten Regular Season title outright with both a win over Wisconsin and a loss by Michigan to Illinois Thursday night.
Purdue had already previously clinched a share of the conference championship, but now stand alone as Big Ten champs. They held off Wisconsin 63-61 thanks in part to Zach Edey scoring 17 points and grabbing 19 rebounds.
It’s the first time since 2017 that Purdue won the Big Ten Championship outright.
Also for Purdue, Fletcher Loyer scored 13 points to give him 356 points this season, now the eighth most by a freshman in school history.
What also helped Purdue win a close game against Wisconsin was the team’s ability to convert its free throws. Purdue went 9 of 10 on foul shots in the final 3:45 after going 2 of 8 up to that point.
Purdue has the #1 seed in the Big Ten tournament. That tournament starts March 8.