The News-Gazette · Jan 18, 2017
Tate: A laugher in West Lafayette
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Look up intimidation in the dictionary and you’ll find a picture of Mackey Arena.
They suffocate the players, the top row of this tightly packed basketball gym only slightly more distant from the court than the initial rows of old C-Section of the State Farm Center.
Purdue students filled their bleacher seats an hour before Tuesday’s tipoff.
Dressed in black, the die-hard fandom reveled in a stunning introduction featuring scoreboard urges from many past Boilermakers icons, from Gene Keady through Rick Mount.
Unlike two years ago, when they trailed Illinois 26-13 before erupting on a 15-minute, 35-9 outburst, the Boilermakers got this one over in a hurry.