Ben Johnson and Matt Painter entered Thursday’s first conference game of the New Year with basketball programs on completely opposite ends of the Big Ten hierarchy. After back-to-back regular- season league titles,

It may not be the same team that won the Big Ten the previous two seasons or appeared in the national championship game last year — two-time Naismith College Player of the Year Zach Edey has since moved on to the NBA — but this version of the Purdue Boilermakers is still plenty formidable.

The Gophers men's basketball team gave No. 20 Purdue a run for its money. For a half anyways. The Boilermakers outscored the Gophers by 19 points in the second half to pull away for a 81-61 victory Thursday night at Williams Arena in Minneapolis.