Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/371839
GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 1 • 30 BY BRIAN NEUBERT BNeubert@GoldandBlack.com The Boilermakers will open Big Ten play this season Dec. 31, hosting Minnesota to start a run in which Purdue will play three of its first four league games in Mackey Arena. Some notables about the con- ference slate: S Indiana visits Purdue Jan. 28; Purdue visits Indiana Feb. 19. The two teams played just once in Big Ten play last season, with Purdue winning on its home floor. S Purdue first meets Maryland as a conference rival Jan. 10, when the Terrapins visit West Lafayette. Purdue does not play at College Park this season. S Purdue first meets Rutgers as a conference rival when it visits Piscataway, N.J., Feb. 12. Two weeks later, the Scarlet Knights visit Mack - ey Arena. S March starts off with gruel- ing back-to-back road games at Ohio State March 1 and Michigan State three days later. S Purdue's sin- gle-play league op- ponents this season are Michigan State, Wisconsin, Michigan, Maryland, Iowa and Penn State. ZONE PART OF PURDUE'S PLANS When Purdue begins full-team work on a limited basis Sept. 15, then fully come October, its plans to implement zone de- fense in its defensive arsenal will move forward. "There's always some trial and error when you try new things," Coach Matt Painter said, "but the thing I feel is great about this and the timing of it is I think it fits our personnel and we have so many new guys, no matter what you throw at them, for half our team it's going to be new to them regardless of what it is." Center A.J. Hammons, one of the biggest c o n s i d e r a t i o n s in Painter's move toward introduc - ing zone at a pro- gram known in the modern era almost solely for man-to- man defense, is all for it. "Zone kind of helps con- serve my energy a little bit, as it would with most people, not hav- ing to chase your guy all around (as much)," Ham- mons said. "Re- ally, I think it'll help the team more with (7-foot- 2 freshman center Isaac Haas) in a zone. He's already taking up the whole paint and he can already contest all the way out to the free throw (line) and baseline all at the same time." WALK-ONS AWARDED SCHOLARSHIPS Neal Beshears and Stephen Toyra, each of whom joined the pro- gram as walk-ons, will be on schol- arship this year. Beshears, a forward who was put on scholarship midway through last season, he said, is the team's only senior. Toyra, a guard, is a third-year junior. "It's a pretty big deal," said Toy- ra, a Lafayette native. "Growing up in Lafayette coming to Purdue bas- ketball games, you always want to play for your local team. When you get into high school, you realize what a difference there is between being a Division I athlete and may- be going NAIA or something like. You want to reach for the highest and become a Division I scholar- ship athlete. It's a dream come true." Beshears is not only a scholar- ship player now, but a team captain. More captains could be named in the months to come, but Painter said two are set right now: Beshears and junior Rapheal Davis, who was named a captain in December last season. For the soft-spoken forward, leadership will be a priority now. "(Being a captain) changes things a little bit," Beshears said. "I've always tried to be a leader and I've always been an older guy for my grade, so I'm older than other se - niors. It changes things a little, but you have to continue to lead by ex- ample. For me, I need to speak up a little more, speak when I see things I don't like or things that need to be corrected. "Other than that, I think I've kept a pretty even keel throughout (my career)." j M E N ' S BA S K E T BA L L : N E W S A N D N OT E S vertime Tom Campbell Stephen Toyra earned a scholarship for the 2014-15 season. 2014-15 PURDUE BASKETBALL SCHEDULE Date Opponent Time Nov. 2 CALIFORNIA (Pa.) TBA Nov. 7 CARROLL TBA Nov. 14 SAMFORD TBA Nov. 16 IUPUI TBA Nov. 20 GRAMBLING TBA Maui Invitational (Lahaina, Hawaii) Nov. 24 vs. Kansas State* 2:30 p.m. Nov. 25 vs. Arizona/Missouri* TBA Nov. 26 vs. TBA* TBA Big Ten/ACC Challenge Dec. 2 NORTH CAROLINA STATE! 9 p.m. Dec. 6 NORTH FLORIDA TBA Dec. 8 IPFW TBA Dec. 10 ARKANSAS STATE TBA Dec. 13 at Vanderbilt TBA Crossroads Classic, Indianapolis Dec. 20 vs. Notre Dame& TBA Dec. 22 GARDNER-WEBB TBA Dec. 31 MINNESOTA TBA Jan. 3 MICHIGAN TBA Jan. 7 at Wisconsin TBA Jan. 10 MARYLAND TBA Jan. 17 at Penn State TBA Jan. 21 at Illinois TBA Jan. 24 IOWA TBA Jan. 28 INDIANA TBA Jan. 31 at Northwestern TBA Feb. 4 OHIO STATE TBA Feb. 7 at Minnesota TBA Feb. 12 at Rutgers TBA Feb. 15 NEBRASKA TBA Feb. 19 at Indiana TBA Feb. 26 RUTGERS TBA March 1 at Ohio State TBA March 4 at Michigan State TBA March 7 ILLINOIS TBA March 11-15 Big Ten Tournament (Chicago) BOILERS LEARN FOES