Purdue basketball's latest UCLA loss comes with unprecedented upside

Truly significant Purdue basketball seasons tend to brush up against UCLA somewhere along the way. That concept remains alive after the No. 4 Boilermakers’ nine-game winning streak and share of the Big Ten lead died Tuesday with a 69-67 loss at Pauley Pavilion. Their first loss in six weeks came at the hands of both an historic rival and a conference newcomer – one which saw a chance to alter the course of its own season, and seized it. On John Wooden bobblehead night, no less, Purdue and UCLA wrote a new chapter alongside the 1967 christening of Mackey Arena, the 1969 national championship game and the 1980 Final Four. The Bruins won all of those games too, dashing championship hopes and...