Purdue opened its exhibition season on Sunday, hosting Ball State at Mackey Arena. Now, the Boilermakers take their talents on the road, heading to Fort Wayne for their second preseason contest.

Matt Painter's team will play Purdue-Fort Wayne on Thursday. Although the Mastadons aren't a power conference team, but this trip presents a road challenge for the Boilermakers.

Here's what you need to know to watch Thursday night's exhibition game between Purdue and Purdue-Fort Wayne.

How to follow along

• What: Purdue (0-0) vs. Purdue-Fort Wayne (0-0)
• When: Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026
• Where: Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Ind.
• Time: 7 p.m. ET
• Stream: Big Ten-Plus (subscription needed)
• Stream announcers: To be announced
• Radio: Purdue Global Radio Network | 96.5 FM WAZY (Lafayette), 100.9 FM WKJG (Fort Wayne), 1260 AM WNDE (Indianapolis), 99.5 FM WFNB (Terre Haute), 1450 AM WXVW (Louisville)
• Radio announcers: Rob Blackman (play-by-play), Bobby Riddell (analyst), Wes Scott (producer)
• Live stats: StatBroadcast

Scouting Purdue-Fort Wayne

Jon Coffman, head coach

• 13th season as the head coach at Purdue-Fort Wayne
• 215-170 overall record, all at PFW
• Won the Summit League title in 2016
• Won Horizon League title in 2022
• 6 postseason appearances (4 CIT, 1 CBI, 1 NIT)
• 5 straight seasons with a winning record
• 10 seasons with 16-plus victories
• 4 seasons with 20-plus wins

Key players

• Deandre Craig Jr., G — Craig is the top returning scorer from last year's Purdue-Fort Wayne squad. He averaged 14.0 points per game and shot better than 38% from behind the three-point line. The guard also averaged 2.6 assists and 3.3 rebounds per contest, starting in all 32 games.

• Anthony Isaac Jr., F — A 6-foot-6 transfer forward, Isaac was a quality scorer and rebounder during his lone season at Manhattan. He averaged 9.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per game during the 2025-26 season. Isaac finished the year with five double-doubles.

• DeAndre Lewis, G — At East Mississippi CC, Lewis earned second-team all-conference honors after averaging 16.1 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. He's a 6-foot-5 guard with great shooting ability, connecting on more than 40% of his attempts from behind the arc.

• Tamaje Izuagbe, G — Izuagbe was a first-team All-American at the NAIA level last season. He averaged 17.6 points and 5.8 boards per game, leading his team to a 30-4 record. He is another big-bodied guard who can cause problems for opponents.

• EJ Mosley, G — Last season, Mosley played in all 32 games as a freshman. He averaged 3.2 points and 1.1 rebounds per game for the Mastodons during the 2025-26 campaign. With a full year under his belt, Mosley could be an impact player this year.

Boilers to watch

• Luke Ertel, G — Ertel was a top-50 guard in the 2026 recruiting class and earned Indiana Mr. Basketball honors following his senior season at Mount Vernon. The true freshman is expected to come in an have an immediate impact for the Boilers.

• Caden Pierce, F — The lone transfer addition on this year's team, Pierce is a former Ivy League Player of the Year, earning that honor following the 2023-24 campaign. That season, he averaged 16.6 points, 9.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game at Princeton.

• Raleigh Burgess, F — Burgess underwent surgery last offseason and utilized the 2025-26 season as a redshirt year. The 6-foot-11 forward is back on the court this year and is hoping to be a key contributor for Purdue.

• Enzo Shahrvin, F — The 6-foot-9 big man from France gives Purdue a stronger rebounding presence on the floor. He's also an athletic player and can make plays on the defensive end. Shahrvin will likely be the backup to Daniel Jacobsen at center.

• Jacob Webber, G — Another true freshman with a chance to see quality minutes this season. Webber is an elite three-point shooter and isn't afraid to pull the trigger. He has a quick release and has the potential to be the next great three-point shooter at Purdue.

2025-26 stats

What to watch

Battling on the boards

Purdue-Fort Wayne doesn't have a ton of size on the roster, but it does have some big guards. How will that impact the rebounding battle? The Boilermakers should be able to dominate on the glass with their size in the frontcourt, but does the size of the Mastodons on the perimeter present challenges?

Head coach Matt Painter has talked about Pudue's guards playing with plenty of phyiscality. We'll see if they're up for the challenge against Purdue-Fort Wayne, and how that could impact the rebound battle.

Different rotations?

How much will Painter and his staff experiment with rotations and lineups throughout the exhibition season? Will anything change from the first game against Ball State? Are there going to be different lineup variations like what we saw in Canada?

That's probably going to be the case. These exhibition games present an opportunity to tinker with things for the wins and losses matter. We'll probably see a few different lineups on the floor in Fort Wayne on Thursday night.

First road game

Although this is going to be a Purdue-heavy crowd, Thursday's game will be the first time the Boilermakers are on the road this season. They'll close out the exhibition portion of the season next week with a trip to Hartford to play UConn, a much more challenging environment.

Still, this is an opportunity for Purdue to play in a foreign atmosphere and get out of the comforts of Mackey Arena. It's a great first challenge away from West Lafayette.