NCAA Tourney: Purdue No. 3 Seed in East Region, Will Play Yale in First Round on Friday
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Purdue would have loved to spend another weekend in Indianapolis for the NCAA Tournament, but instead they are going to Milwaukee, Wis., for the first weekend.
The NCAA released the pairings for the tournament just a few minutes after Purdue lost to Iowa in the Big Ten Tournament game here, and the Boilermakers are a No. 3 seed in the East Regional. They will play No. 14 seed Yale, the Ivy League champion, on Friday.
Game times have not been announced yet.
Purdue is 27-7 on the season, and all seven losses have come against Big Ten teams. Yale is 19-11. The Bulldogs played two Power 6 teams during the season, and lost to Seton Hall 80-44 on Nov. 13 and lost 86-64 at Auburn on Dec. 4
Purdue was a No. 4 seed a year ago, but lost to No. 13 North Texas in the first round. That memory has not faded away.
"You respect everybody you play in March Madness and that's what it came down to for us,'' Purdue senior center Trevion Williams said about last year's stunner. "I think a lot of times we look at ourselves and we obviously we know we're a talented team but we beat ourselves a lot of times. Purdue beats Purdue.
"In March, man, it's about respecting every team you play and I don't think we gave North Texas the respect that they deserve. Everybody's in the tournament for a reason. Like I said, it just comes down to respecting each team you play. Obviously people look at that game and say Purdue's going to win, but, you know, that's why you respect the teams. The lesson is just respect every team and I guess the change that we can make this year is just come in with a focus and understand that every possession counts.''
If Purdue wins on Friday, they'll get the winner of No. 6 Texas or No. 11 Virginia Tech, which just upset Duke on Saturday night to win the ACC title.
Purdue got upset on Sunday too, falling to Iowa in the Big Ten title game. Now it's time to quickly move on.
"I think the biggest thing is just trying to just have a short memory of this game and just move on and focus on what we can control in those games,'' Purdue sophmore Jaden Ivey said. "I felt like today we turned the ball over and it lost us games. We just got to correct it and don't let it happen when we play Yale.''
Purdue coach Matt Painter has talked often about that loss from a year ago. He was asked about it again on Sunday.
"A lot of times people look at when you get upset by somebody that you didn't respect them and I thought both times we got beat by Little Rock and got beat by North Texas, I thought our players really respected them,'' Painter said. "That just wasn't it, we just got beat. They played better than us. Obviously ,the one game went to overtime. I just think the experiences that you go through and as a coach, I can continue on with players. Like you get kind of to the end and it's a little bit different, but I think really what we learn is just you've got to lay it on the line.
"You get yourself in close games, especially on a neutral court, anything can happen, but you've got to play better. You've got to be more efficient, you've got to be able to defend.
Purdue will get to preparing for Yale right away, as well as a potential Sunday opponent. They are led by 6-foot senior guard Azar Swain, who averaged 19.2 points per game. They are coached by James Jones, who's been at the school for 23 years.
"I know Coach Jones and he's an excellent coach. They have a good team, man,'' Painter said. "Everybody earns their way in this one. There might be a couple teams that got left out but deserve to be in there and we all understand that, but everybody that got in this tournament earned their way in this tournament and everybody is good and we'll have our hands full.''
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- WILLIAMS, IVEY ALL-TOURNEY: Jaden Ivey and Trevion Williams were named to the 2022 Big Ten Men's All-Tournament team. Purdue lost to Iowa on Sunday in the championship game 75-66. CLICK HERE
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- ERIC HUNTER JR. HITS BIG SHOTS FOR PURDUE: Purdue was ahead of Michigan State by just one point before Eric Hunter Jr. nailed two 3-pointers, helping the team push its lead back to double-digits. He scored all 11 of his points in the second half of a 75-70 win in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals Saturday. CLICK HERE
- PURDUE SURGES PAST MICHIGAN STATE: After both teams struggled in the first half, Purdue and Michigan lit up the scoreboard after halftime with a spot in the Big Ten Tournament finals on the line. The Boilermakers, led by Jaden Ivey's 22 points, made enough plays to keep control of the game and walk away with a win. CLICK HERE
Tom Brew is an award-winning journalist who's worked at some America's finest newspapers, including the Tampa Bay (Fla.) Times, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and the Indianapolis Star. He also owns the book publishing company, Hilltop30 Publishing Group, and he has written four books and published 16 others.