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GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 22 • 9 the season for Hammons and only the sixth of his career. In two games against Indiana this sea- son, Hammons made 12-of-13 shots, scored 31 points and had 12 blocks. "I'm glad they acknowledged that I'm playing hard and everybody is noticing," Hammons said. "Every game you've got to play well, but I'm a little more hyped for that game because it's a rivalry. I'm glad they gave me player of the week for that game because I did try and play hard — even though I should have rebounded better. "It makes my mom smile and my brother happy." Purdue hadn't had a player earn that league honor since Robbie Hummel in 2012. IN OR OUT? Even with its big victory over Indiana on the road last week, Purdue still is considered a bubble team for the NCAA Tournament. Matt Painter said he'd only consider teams who could lose their remaining games and still get in as non-bubble teams. The Boil- ermakers certainly aren't in that category. But with four regular-season games to play and then the Big Ten Tournament, there are opportunities to firm up the résumé. Even without that, though, ESPN.com's Joe Lunardi had Purdue into the Tournament as a No. 11 seed in his latest bracket released on Monday. He had the Boilermakers in the South Region playing No. 6 seed West Virgin- ia in Portland. In Lunardi's bracket, eight Big Ten teams were in the Tournament, the most of any con- 2014-15 PURDUE MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE Date Opponent Time/Result Nov. 2 CALIFORNIA (Pa.) (BTN Plus) W, 89-52 Nov. 7 CARROLL (BTN Plus) W, 90-49 Nov. 14 SAMFORD (BTN Plus) W, 80-40 Nov. 16 IUPUI (BTN) W, 77-57 Nov. 20 GRAMBLING (BTN Plus) W, 82-30 Maui Invitational - Lahaina, Hawaii Nov. 24 vs. Kansas State (ESPN2) L, 79-88 Nov. 25 vs. Missouri W, 82-61 Nov. 26 vs. BYU (ESPN2) W, 87-85 (OT) Big Ten/ACC Challenge - West Lafayette Dec. 2 NC STATE (ESPNU) W, 66-61 Dec. 6 NORTH FLORIDA (BTN Plus) L, 70-73 Dec. 8 IPFW (ESPNU) W, 63-43 Dec. 10 ARKANSAS STATE (ESPNU) W, 87-46 Dec. 13 at Vanderbilt (SEC Network) L, 71-81 Crossroads Classic - Indianapolis Dec. 20 vs. No. 21 Notre Dame (BTN) L, 63-94 Dec. 22 GARDNER-WEBB (BTN Plus) L, 84-89 Dec. 31 MINNESOTA (BTN) W, 72-68 Jan. 3 MICHIGAN (BTN) W, 64-51 Jan. 7 at No. 4 Wisconsin (BTN) L, 55-62 Jan. 10 No. 11 MARYLAND (BTN) L, 60-69 Jan. 17 at Penn State W, 84-77 Jan. 21 at Illinois (BTN) L, 57-66 Jan. 24 No. 25 IOWA (BTN) W, 67-63 Jan. 28 No. 21 INDIANA (BTN) W, 83-67 Jan. 31 at Northwestern (ESPNU) W, 68-60 Feb. 4 No. 20 OHIO STATE (BTN) W, 60-58 Feb. 7 at Minnesota (BTN) L, 58-62 Feb. 12 at Rutgers(ESPNU) W, 61-51 Feb. 15 NEBRASKA (BTN) W, 66-54 Feb. 19 at Indiana (ESPN) W, 67-63 Feb. 26 RUTGERS (ESPNU) 9 p.m. March 1 at Ohio State (BTN) 7:30 p.m. March 4 at Michigan State (BTN) 8 p.m. March 7 ILLINOIS (BTN) 4:30 p.m. March 11-15 Big Ten Tournament (Chicago) ference. That included Indiana, which Purdue swept, as a No. 8 seed. Illi- nois, which plays in West Lafayette on March 7, also was a No. 11 seed but in a play-in game. Wisconsin was a No. 2 seed, while Maryland (No. 4), Michigan State (No. 7), Ohio State (No. 8) and Iowa (No. 10) also were in. Purdue beat Iowa and Ohio State but plays the Buckeyes in Columbus Sunday. Its only game against the Spartans is next week on the road. Jerry Palm also had Purdue as an 11 seed in his bracket for CBSsports. com on Monday. He also had the Boil - ermakers in Portland but facing No. 6 SMU. Other Big Ten teams among Palm's predictions: No. 2 Wisconsin, No. 3 Maryland, No. 7 Indiana, No. 8 Iowa, No. 8 Ohio State, No. 9 Michigan State and No. 10 Illinois. When asked last week whether his team should be into the Tourna- ment, Painter said no. "What you have to be able to say to be an NCAA Tournament team is, 'If you lose every game until the end, would you go to the NCAA Tourna- ment?' Our answer is no," Painter said. "That's what you have to ask. If Wis- consin lost every game from this point