3 Days to B1G Basketball: Purdue Knocks Off West Virginia in Secret Scrimage

Purdue wrapped up their exhibition season this weekend with a secret scrimmage in Columbus against Big 12 opponent West Virginia. It was the second year in a row that Purdue and West Virginia met in a fall scrimmage, with the Mountaineers throttling Purdue last year 93-70. This time around things went a bit more smoothly for the Boilermakers.

While there’s no official score or box score released, details have been revealed from the two teams outing. While West Virginia got the best of Purdue last year, it is being reported that the Boilermakers picked up the win after leading most of the second half by double-digits. Even more notable, the Boilermakers managed to limit turnovers against one of the top pressing defenses in the nation. That of course was a nice change of pace considering Purdue struggled with ball control against Carroll College in their exhibition game last Wednesday.

The West Virginia scrimmage wraps up Purdue’s preseason and now the team will prepare for their opening weekend. The Boilers will host SIU-Edwardsville on Friday and Chicago State on Sunday.

One thing to keep an eye on this week is the status of Jacquil Taylor. The forward is once again dealing with injury issues and hasn’t played in any of Purdue’s exhibition games. Taylor was set for a CT scan this week and could return to practice later this week, but that’ll depend on his test results.

Taylor may not be needed for the opening weekend, but if he can’t go anytime soon it’ll leave Purdue pretty thin in the frontcourt. There’s been some talk about potential redshirts, with forwards Aaron Wheeler and Eden Ewing being considered. If Taylor can’t go or struggles with injuries once again, that could force the two newcomers into the rotation.

Purdue’s first major test will come next Tuesday when they square off at Marquette as part of the 2017 Gavitt Games.