If you were at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Friday, depending on the moment, on the shot, on the shooter, it felt a little bit like being in Purdue basketball past.
Men of Mackey is Purdue Alumni’s The Basketball Team basketball team. It features five former Boilermakers: Jon Octeus, Eric Hunter, Kelsey Barlow, David Jenkins Jr., and Sasha Stefanovic.
Men of Mackey advanced in its first matchup, coming from behind to dominate the second half against Fort Wayne Champs 75-63.
Men of Mackey struggled early, not finding an offensive rhythm and giving up a lot of offensive rebounds. Then, head coach, also former Boiler, Lewis Jackson, found a lineup that worked for him.
It involved playing most his Boilers, four of the five guards at a time, and for minutes it looked like Purdue offenses of old with Jenkins going off, knocking down three first half three pointers to keep Purdue in it and knocking down a fourth later in the game for good measure.
Current Purdue assistant coach, and former player, Sasha Stefanovic also flashed back to his playing days. He was in vintage form, taking a hand off and knocking down a three pointer at the top of the key late in the game. With the fear of Stefanovic getting hot, Men of Mackey drew up a set of screen for Stefanovic and Fort Wayne sent two guys at Stefanovic, leaving a big open for a dunk at the hoop.
Stefanovic finished this flurry by showing off, catchihng the ball 30+ feet away from the rim and draining the deep three.
Before Men of Mackey’s shooters got going, Kelsey Barlow and Eric Hunter Jr. kept the team in it by attacking the basket and being lead guards in half court.
It was Hunter Jr. that dropped the game winner, a step back three pointer to get to the Elam Ending magic number as he returned to play at Hinkle Fieldhouse after transferring to Butler after spending his first four years at Purdue.
It was a balanced scoring effort, with four players in double figures.
The win now sets up a fun match up between rivals after Indiana’s alumni team beat The Cru (Valparaiso’s alumni team) 89-78.
IU’s alumni team, Assembly Ball, features even more Hoosiers with a lot of names that will be familiar to Purdue fans: Devonte Green, Jordan Hulls, Juwan Morgan, Miller Kopp, Noah Vonleh, Race Thompson, Troy Williams, and Yogi Ferrall.
Now the two schools will have a new take on the greatest basketball rivalry in college basketball with both schools pasts take on each other for the single money prize for the winner of The Basketball Tournament.
The game will be on Butler campus at the Hinkle Fieldhouse, almost directly in between the two campuses.
When: 8:00 pm EST
Where: Hinkle Fieldhouse
How to Watch: FS1
