1978–79 Purdue Boilermakers men's basketball team

1978–79 Purdue Boilermakers men's basketball
Big Ten Regular season champions (tie)
1979 National Invitation Tournament, Runner-up
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 14
AP	No. 15
Record	27–8 (13–5 Big Ten)
Head coach	Lee Rose (1st season)
Assistant coaches	Everett Bass Roger Blalock George Faerber
Home arena	Mackey Arena
Seasons ← 1977–78 1979–80 →

1978–79 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 3 Michigan State	13	–	5		.722			26	–	6		.813
No. 15 Purdue	13	–	5		.722			27	–	8		.771
No. 20 Iowa	13	–	5		.722			20	–	8		.714
Ohio State	12	–	6		.667			19	–	12		.613
Indiana	10	–	8		.556			22	–	12		.647
Michigan	8	–	10		.444			15	–	12		.556
Illinois	7	–	11		.389			19	–	11		.633
Wisconsin	6	–	12		.333			12	–	15		.444
Minnesota	6	–	12		.333			11	–	16		.407
Northwestern	2	–	16		.111			6	–	21		.222
Rankings from AP Poll

Regular season

In head coach Lee Rose's first season at Purdue, where he introduced a slowed-down, tempo-controlled style of play, he led the Boilers to a Big Ten Conference co-title, along with Iowa and the eventual NCAA Champion, Ervin Johnson-led Michigan State. With only a 40 team NCAA Tournament field in 1979, the Boilermakers were forced to enter the NIT, instead, due to the favor Michigan State had over Purdue for their head-to-head record on the season. Purdue qualified for the National Invitation Tournament, where they lost to the Indiana Hoosiers in the tournament finals.

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Nov 27, 1978*		Indiana State	L 53–63	1–1	Mackey Arena  West Lafayette, Indiana
Jan 13, 1979		No. 1 Michigan State	W 52–50	12–4 (2–2)	Mackey Arena  West Lafayette, Indiana
Jan 18, 1979*		Iowa	L 46–56	12–5 (2–3)	Mackey Arena  West Lafayette, Indiana
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern.

National Invitation Tournament

• First Round
  • Purdue 97, Central Michigan 80
• Second Round
  • Purdue 84, Dayton 70
• Quarterfinal
  • Purdue 67, Old Dominion 59
• Semifinal
  • Purdue 87, Alabama 68
• Final
  • Indiana 53, Purdue 52

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Awards and honors

Team players drafted into the NBA

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
4	82	Jerry Sichting	Golden State Warriors

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