WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A new addition to Mackey Arena this year: a “noise meter” that flashes on the two new video boards behind each basket. It’s yet another reminder of just how overwhelming the building can be for visitors. Before Saturday, road teams had won at Mackey just five times since COVID-19 restrictions were lifted; Purdue has made not just beating but embarrassing its opponents at home a regular occurrence.
That’s what made Iowa State’s second-half demolition of the Boilermakers so jarring to watch. The Cyclones went into halftime up four points against the nation’s No. 1 team, but it was easy to chalk that up to the Boilermakers’ cold shooting from deep. In the second half, Iowa State did to Purdue what hadn’t been done in more than a decade. The lead ballooned from four to 15 and 15 to 25, sending that new noise meter plummeting down and Purdue fans to the exits, some as early as the under-eight media timeout of the second half.
