Many basketball fans in Indiana cheer for one of two teams: Purdue or IU. Fans happily cheer for their team, and passionately hate the other. Many students and teachers at Cathedral also have their opinions on the two rivals. No matter if the Fighting Irish are basketball fans or not, it is difficult not to watch the fierce competition between these teams.
Starting off with Purdue, this team has been pretty impressive this season. The starting five, including 2023’s national player of the year Zach Edey, Braden Smith, Lance Jones, Fletcher Loyer, and Trey Kaufman-Renn have led their team to have been ranked in the top 3 of men’s college basketball for the majority of the 2024 season.
Zach Edey, Purdue’s dominant senior, just broke the all-time rebounding record at Purdue, and is about to break the scoring record. Along with Edey, the rest of the team has been very solid. On January 16th, Purdue traveled to Bloomington to face off against IU. Although IU has not had a great season so far, the rivalry between these two teams make it extremely exciting to watch. Purdue ended up defeating IU 87 to 66.
There are many people at Cathedral High School who will have their eyes on this game. Junior Ella Muzechuk is a long time Purdue fan, and explained “Purdue has been very fun to watch this season. I am glad Purdue won against IU and has had such a strong year. I am also excited to watch them in the tournament.”
After an impressive season last year, the Hoosiers can not seem to find the same level of play in the 2024 season. Although their record is not bad at 14-11, they have not been seen in the rankings this year.
Trey Galloway, IU’s senior and redshirted junior, has drawn lots of attention from fans. He is one of IU’s team leaders and has had a successful season so far. A huge question for this team is if they are going to make the 2024 March Madness tournament. For those who do not know, 68 teams are selected for a playoff in March, hence the name March Madness. People are questioning whether IU has had a good enough year to make it into the tournament. This will be decided on what is called Selection Sunday, which will be held on March 17th.
IU also has lots of support at Cathedral, whether it’s about basketball, or not. Junior Julia Roe says “I plan on going to IU after high school. The campus is very pretty and although the basketball team hasn’t had the most successful year, I still thoroughly enjoy watching them play.”
Looking back at the second Purdue vs. IU game of 2024, it had a very similar outcome to the first. The game ended in a 79-59 win for Purdue. Zach Edey and Braden Smith led the stat boards with a combined 45 points and 22 rebounds. IU was finding it very hard to find a way to score, with their leading scorer, CJ Gunn, only having 13 points.
Overall, and no matter what team students and teachers at Cathedral decide to cheer for, Indiana basketball is always an exciting and entertaining experience. On both sides of the rivalry, there is lots of talent and great basketball players. As Junior Ellen Albaugh states, “Even though I choose to cheer for IU, I give respect to all the players who put in the hard work and dedication for their teams.”
