Purdue won at Minnesota on Wednesday night, but they did it without star freshman Caleb Swanigan.
‘Biggie’ rolled his ankle in a loss to Iowa over the weekend, and while he still managed to play 10 second half minutes in that game -- and practice for the majority of the time on Tuesday -- the staff held him out of Wednesday’s game. Head coach Matt Painter told reporters after the game that the ankle was too sore to even partake is shootaround and that the 6-foot-9 power forward’s status for the weekend was unclear. Purdue plays Nebraska in West Lafayette on Saturday.
Swanigan is averaging 10.1 points and 8.9 boards on the season.
Purdue was also without Kendell Stephens, their best three-point shooter, who is mourning the death of a friend and missed his second straight game.