MILWAUKEE — This is what Purdue's been building up to all season long, as the 10th-ranked Boilermakers open NCAA Tournament play Friday afternoon vs. Yale.

For Purdue — which opened and closed the season in the top 10, peaking at No. 1 for the first time ever — it's thought to be a credible Final Four shot, starting now.

The winner of this game will face either Texas or Virginia Tech on Sunday with a trip to Philadelphia next weekend on the line.

Date: Friday, March 18, 2022

Time: 2 p.m. ET

TV: TBS

Radio: Purdue Radio Network (96.5 WAZY locally)

• Purdue's looking for its first NCAA Tournament win since its near-Final Four run of 2019. Of course, only one tournament has been played since then. Purdue's made seven straight tournaments, but likely would have missed the event In 2020 had COVID not forced its cancelation.

With two wins in Milwaukee, the Boilermakers would appear in their fourth Sweet 16 In the past five tournaments.

• Matt Painter's coaching in his 13th NCAA Tournament at Purdue. He's won 15 games.

• Purdue's never played an Ivy League school under Matt Painter, though these two schools were supposed to play in Mackey Arena last season before the non-conference schedule was trimmed down by pandemic concerns.

STARTERS

C — 15 Zach Edey (7-4, 295, So.)

14.6 PPG • 65.5% FG • 7.8 REB • 1.3 BLK

Purdue's considerable size advantage matters a little more now and it starts with Edey, who'll be the Boilermakers' focal point offensively from the opening tip of every game. It will be interesting — and important for Purdue — to see how officials handle Edey during the NCAA Tournament.

F — 0 Mason Gillis (6-6, 230, So.)

6.5 PPG • 4.8 REB • 50.8% FG • 43.9% 3-PT • 82.4% FT

As games matter more, so do little things, and Gillis' physicality, effort and possession-generating strengths as a player can make differences in the close games sure to come. Getting a three or two per game from him would be a welcomed sight, too. Watch out for foul trouble. Purdue needs him on the floor.

G — 55 Sasha Stefanovic (6-5, 205, Sr.)

10.7 PPG • 39% 3-PT • 3.3 AST

Stefanovic was a bit up and down to end the season, but his career as a marked man for Big Ten opponents is now behind him. The offense Purdue runs for him can be a challenge to prepare for on short notice, so he may get some looks he's not gotten most of the season. The ball would then be in his court to knock 'em down.

G — 2 Eric Hunter (6-4, 175, Sr.)

6.4 PPG • 1.9 AST • 48.8% FG • 47.1% 3-PT

Hunter's resurgence this season has been transformational for Purdue, and as big a deal as his three-point marksmanship has been, this game's all about his handling of Yale leading scorer Azar Swain defensively.

G —23 Jaden Ivey (6-4, 195, So.)

17.4 PPG • 46.2% FG • 35.6% 3-PT • 4.9 RPG • 3.1 AST

With the eyes of the college basketball world and beyond on him, this is Ivey's time, as the Boilermaker All-American will have the ball in his hands a lot, on a team that may only go as far as he takes it. His decision-making might be the single-biggest key to Purdue's success the rest of this month. He'll be one of the most influential players in this whole event.

ROTATION

C — 50 Trevion Williams (6-10, 255, Sr.)

11.7 PPG • 54.3% FG • 7.4 REB • 3.1 AST

With the end near, Williams' best is needed, from consistency and decision-making to defensive attentiveness and avoidance of turnovers. Williams is pretty good at thinking on his feet when teams throw different defensive tactics at him. Williams needs to be simple and his teammates need to be ready to shoot.

G —11 Isaiah Thompson (6-1, 160, Jr.)

4.2 PPG • 41.7% 3-PT

Thompson hasn't scored in almost a month, and has only taken three shots over that timeframe. Maybe that primes him to sucker-punch one of these opponents when they overload against the post or against Ivey. If he draws minutes against Azar Swain, he's going to have to hold up defensively.

G — 25 Ethan Morton (6-6, 215, So.)

2.4 PPG • 1.5 AST • 47.5% FG • 43.3% 3-PT

Morton can be a sneaky key player for Purdue in the NCAA Tournament, due to his defensive versatility and spot-up shooting and how much difference either of those elements can provide as needed.

G — 5 Brandon Newman (6-5, 200, So.)

5.0 PPG • 32.5% 3-PT • 79.2% FT

Newman's surged back into the mix for Purdue after falling out of the rotation for weeks. He'll carry important reserve minutes and give the Boilermakers another shooting weapon. But he also played well at the Big Ten Tournament even when he didn't shoot well.

F — 3 Caleb Furst (6-10, 230, Fr.)

3.9 PPG • 3.3 RPG • 57.1% FG • 37.5% 3-PT

Purdue's freshman 4 man's minutes may depend on matchups, as he and Ethan Morton have been sort of an either/or situation on the depth chart lately, dependent on what style of player they have to guard.

Freshmen Trey Kaufman-Renn and Brian Waddell will redshirt this season. Waddell will miss most of the season after tearing his ACL and Kaufman-Renn is now sidelined up to six weeks after undergoing foot surgery.

Schedule | Roster | Stats

• Yale made the NCAA Tournament by virtue of its Ivy League title game win over Princeton, that AQ bid sending them to the Big Dance for the fourth time in six years, counting 2020 (when the event was canceled).

In 2016, the Bulldogs beat fifth-seeded Baylor in Providence, the first NCAA Tournament win in school history.

• The Bulldogs enter the NCAA Tournament ranked 207th nationally in offensive efficiency, per KenPom, with mediocre shooting percentages and offensive metrics across the board.

Yale is No. 100 nationally in defensive efficiency and has allowed opponents to shoot just 30.4 percent from three-point range, though that could be a function of the Ivy League not being a great shooting league.

• Yale's three highest-profile games of the season came against Seton Hall, Auburn and St. Mary's, all of them being one-sided losses, but Coach James Jones seems to think his team's changed since those games, especially at the center position.

STARTERS

F - 22 Matt Knowling (6-5, 195, So.)

6.9 PPG • 4.1 REB • 62.7% FG

F - 35 Isaiah Kelly (6-7, 215, Jr.)

6.6 PPG • 4.2 REB • 48.2% FG

Kelly is Yale's de facto center, meaning he'll have his hands full — and probably a lot of help — guarding Purdue's 5 men.

G - 5 Azar Swain (6-1, 185, Sr.)

18.9 PPG • 4.2 RPG • 1.6 AST • 33.5% 3-PT

Swan is Yale's leading scorer and go-to guy and the player Purdue has to focus most on defensively.

G - 00 Jalen Gabbidon (6-5, 190, Sr.)

11.9 PPG • 3.4 RPG • 32.6% 3-PT

The lanky wing is Yale's other double-digit scorer.

G - 2 Bez Mbeng (6-4, 195, Fr.)

4.4 PPG • 2.7 RPG • 1.8 AST

KEY RESERVES

G - 10 Matthue Cotton (6-5, 200, Jr.)

7.3 PPG • 3.6 REB • 30.7% 3-PT

F - 15 EJ Jarvis (6-8, 220, Jr.)

6.7 PPG • 4.7 RPG

G - 3 August Mahoney (6-4, 190, So.)

4.0 PPG • 2.7 RPG • 36.8% 3-PT

G - 4 John Poulakidas (6-5, 190, Fr.)

2.2 PPG

Stay dialed in to GoldandBlack.com during the game for our pre-game First Thoughts analysis. During the game, follow along with our game thread and follow @brianneubert on Twitter for additional insight.

Following the game, we'll have post-game press conference video, game coverage, analysis, our Wrap Video and Final Thoughts, plus a Gold and Black Radio podcast within a few hours of the end of the game.

Stay tuned.

This is going to be as unpredictable as any NCAA Tournament. That much has already been made clear.

But there's not a lot of reason here to believe Purdue's really vulnerable against Yale, except for the turnover-onslaught bug, which has never really happened two games in a row.

Yale's going to be hard-pressed to keep up offensively, on the glass, etc.

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