How to Watch Purdue vs. McNeese in 2nd Round of NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A trip to the Sweet 16 is at stake on Saturday at Amica Mutual Pavilion. No. 4 seed Purdue will play No. 12 seed McNeese in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, hoping to advance to the regional round of March Madness.
The Boilermakers defeated High Point 75-63 in their first round game on Thursday. McNeese took down Clemson 69-67. There will be a lot of talent on the floor in Saturday's showdown.
Here's everything you need to know about the game.
How to watch No. 4 Purdue vs. No. 12 McNeese
- Who: No. 4 Purdue Boilermakers (23-11, 13-7 in Big Ten) vs. No. 12 McNeese Cowboys (28-6, 19-1 in Southland)
- What: 2025 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament — Second Round (Midwest Region)
- When: Saturday, March 22 at 12:10 p.m. ET
- Where: Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, R.I. (14,000)
- TV: CBS
- TV Announcers: Andrew Catalon (play-by-play), Steve Lappas (analyst), Evan Washburn (reporter)
- Purdue Radio: Boilermaker Sports Network — WAZY 96.5 FM (Lafayette/West Lafayette); WKJG 100.9 FM (Fort Wayne); WNDE 1260 AM (Indianapolis); WGBF 1280 (Evansville); View all listings: CLICK HERE.
- Purdue Radio Announcers: Rob Blackman (play-by-play), Bobby Riddell (analyst), Wes Scott (producer).
- National Radio: SiriusXM Channel 202 or 209; App Channel 964.
- National Radio Announcers: Chris Carrino (play-by-play), Jordan Cornette (analyst).
- Purdue Coach: Matt Painter, 20th season at Purdue (470-214).
- High Point Coach: Will Wade, 2nd season at McNeese (57-10).
- Series History: Purdue leads the all-time series vs. McNeese 1-0.
Rankings
- Associated Press: Purdue is ranked No. 22; McNeese is not ranked.
- USA Today Coaches: Purdue is ranked No. 22; McNeese is not ranked.
- KenPom: Purdue is ranked No. 15; McNeese is ranked No. 58.
- NET: Purdue is ranked No. 19; McNeese is ranked No. 58.
McNeese 2024-25 roster
Top players
- Javohn Garcia (Sr.): 12.6 ppg; 3.4 rpg; 1.5 spg
- Sincere Parker (Jr.): 12.1 ppg; 2.5 rpg
- Christian Shumate (Sr.): 10.6 ppg; 6.4 rpg; 1.3 bpg
- DJ Richards Jr. (Jr.): 9.9 ppg; 2.3 rpg; 43.4% 3-pt
- Quadir Copeland (Jr.): 9.2 ppg; 4.5 apg; 3.4 rpg; 1.4 spg
- Joe Charles (Sr.): 8.5 ppg; 7.0 rpg; 1.3 spg
- Brandon Murray (Sr.): 7.6 ppg; 3.1 rpg; 2.1 apg
- Bryant Selebangue (Jr.): 3.9 ppg; 4.4 rpg
Purdue Boilermakers 2024-25 roster
Top players
- Trey Kaufman-Renn (Jr.) — 20.2 ppg; 6.3 rpg; 2.1 apg
- Braden Smith (Jr.) — 16.2 ppg; 8.6 apg; 4.6 rpg; 2.2 spg; 38.6% 3-pt
- Fletcher Loyer (Jr.) —13.6 ppg; 2.1 rpg; 46.1% 3-pt
- CJ Cox (Fr.) — 5.8 ppg; 2.9 rpg; 38.5% 3-pt
- Myles Colvin (So.) — 5.3 ppg; 2.5 rpg
- Caleb Furst (Sr.) — 4.3 ppg; 3.6 rpg
- Camden Heide (So.) — 4.5 ppg; 3.6 rpg
- Gicarri Harris (Fr.) — 3.9 ppg; 1.8 rpg
By the numbers
14.5 — McNeese has been good at forcing turnovers this season, getting opponents to turn the basketball over 14.5 times per game this year. That average ranks 31st in the NCAA this season.
7.6 — There are eight players on McNeese's roster who are averaging at least 7.6 points per game. The Cowboys are led by Javohn Garcia, who is scoring 12.6 points per contest for the year.
11 — Both Purdue and McNeese have done an excellent job of taking care of the basketball this season, averging less than 11 turnovers per game. McNeese is averaging 10.8 per game, while Purdue is averaging 10.4.
35.0% — There will be eight players in Saturday's game shooting 35% or better from behind the 3-point line (10 attempts or more). The Boilermakers are shooting 38.5% from three-point range as a team while the Cowboys shoot the long ball at a 35.9% clip.
20 — Purdue's Trey Kaufman-Renn has scored 20 points or more 11 times in his last 13 games. He scored 21 in the win over High Point on Thursday.
Meet the coaches
- Will Wade, McNeese: In just his second season at McNeese, Wade has turned the program into one of the best mid-majors in the country. He has led the Cowboys to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances, winning the Southland Conference regular season and tournament championships each of the last two years. Before taking over at McNeese, Wade had a five-year run at LSU, leading the Tigers to an SEC regular season crown in 2018-19 and three trips to March Madness. He was also the coach at VCU from 2015-17 and Chattanooga from 2013-15. Wade has won more than 250 games as a head coach and has taken his teams to the NCAA Tournament seven times. A Nashville native, Wade also had stops at Clemson (2005-07), Harvard (2007-09), and VCU (2009-13) as an assistant coach. Before McNeese's first game of this year's NCAA Tournament, it was announced that Wade accepted a deal to become the next head coach at North Carolina State.
- Matt Painter, Purdue: Painter is in his 20th season as the coach of the Boilermakers and is one of the Big Ten's longest-tenured and most successful head coaches. He's led the program to five Big Ten regular season championships, two Big Ten Tournament titles and 15 NCAA Tournament appearances in his first 19 years. Painter is also a five-time Big Ten Coach of the Year. In 2024, Painter led Purdue to its first Final Four appearance since 1980 and first trip to the National Championship Game since 1969. Painter, a Purdue alum, played under legendary coach Gene Keady from 1989-93. He spent one year as the head coach at Southern Illinois (2003-04) before being named associated head coach on Keady's staff in the 2004-05 season.
Related stories on Purdue basketball
TOM BREW COLUMN: The Twitter trolls, Facebook swill and even many of my college basketball colleagues are ripping McNeese coach Will Wade for switching jobs so publicly during the NCAA Tournament. But I have no problems with it — because his players say it's been the plan all along. CLICK HERE
PURDUE GETS MCNEESE: Playing with confidence, swagger and a hardly-ever-used 2-3 zone, No. 12 seed McNeese stunned Clemson on Thursday to claim their first-ever NCAA Tournament win. That sets up a date with No. 4 Purdue on Saturday. CLICK HERE
BOILER BANTER COLUMN: Purdue has allowed many leads to slip away over the last month. It almost happened again on Thursday in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament against High Point. This time, though, the Boilermakers found a way to weather the storm. Here is Dustin Schutte's ''Boiler Banter'' column. CLICK HERE
