BROOKLYN — Purdue meets North Carolina State as part of the four-game Hall of Fame Invitational at Brooklyn's Barclays Center.

Date: Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021

Time: 2 p.m. ET

TV: BTN

Radio: Purdue Radio Network (96.5 WAZY locally)

Schedule | Roster | Stats

• This will be the Boilermakers' first-ever game at Barclays Center. It was supposed to play West Virginia there last season, but that game was a COVID casualty.

This will actually be Purdue's fourth game of the season in the Tri-State Area and fifth in the Northeast if you count the scrimmage against Providence.

• Purdue's looking to go 3-0 against the ACC, as it already holds wins over North Carolina and Florida State.

STARTERS

C — 15 Zach Edey (7-4, 295, So.)

15.2 PPG • 71.2% FG • 78.6 FT% • 7.0 REB • 18.0 MIN • 1.3 BLK

Purdue hasn't been able to get Edey going to start games the way it had earlier in the season. Job 1 for the Boilermakers is almost always to establish the post first and foremost and they'll keep going back to him. Purdue, on paper, should have a significant advantage up front, because N.C. State is both small and low on options at center.

F — 3 Caleb Furst (6-10, 230, Fr.)

7.3 PPG • 6.6 RPG • 62.2% FG • 45.5% 3-PT

Furst didn't play in the second half against Rutgers, but that was solely due to defensive matchups. It was a big ask of Purdue to have Furst chasing Ron Harper Jr. through screens, but that's the nature of the matchup problem. Furst will go right back to his prior standing now, almost certainly.

G —23 Jaden Ivey (6-4, 195, So.)

15.8 PPG • 52.6% FG • 40% 3-PT • 5.2 REB • 3.6 AST • 1.7 STL

Ivey's one of the best and most talented players in the country, and with that standing comes a higher level of expectation. He does seem to disengage at times defensively, which is not uncommon for really high-end scorers.

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

11.9 PPG • 43.9% 3-PT • 4.2 AST

It wasn't a great night for Stefanovic at Rutgers, at either end of the floor. He was just 2-of-7 from three, with what would have been a big one in the final few minutes rimming out. Purdue had two of those, either one of which might have put the game out of reach. Rutgers was really physical with Purdue's guards, especially on their cuts, and N.C. State might do some of the same things.

G —11 Isaiah Thompson (6-1, 160, Jr.)

6.3 PPG • 54.8% FG • 56% 3-PT

Thompson played just 14 minutes at Rutgers, as Eric Hunter logged most of the minutes at the 1. The sophomore didn't have his best defensive game, and like Stefanovic, had a three go in and out when the Boilermakers had a chance to really pull away.

ROTATION

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

13.3 PPG • 57.8% FG • 9.0 REB • 2.3 AST

Williams scored 21 points at Rutgers, many of them coming facing the basket and driving, and he seemed to play well defensively on the perimeter. He's having a really strong season, and you wonder if Purdue's annual change to the starting five at center might be under consideration.

G — 5 Brandon Newman (6-5, 200, So.)

8.6 PPG • 38.3% 3-PT • 93.8% FT

Newman was 1-of-6 from the floor with three turnovers in just 13 minutes at Rutgers. Consistency has been one of his priorities and he still may be working toward establishing that steadiness.

G — 25 Ethan Morton (6-6, 215, So.)

2.9 PPG • 1.9 AST • 42.9% 3-PT (3-7)

Morton was pressed into big minutes at Rutgers because of defensive matchups against Rutgers' best player. He probably couldn't have predicted that prior to the season, but after Morton cut off Ron Harper's three-point looks, the powerful guard used his strength to take Morton inside during the game's home stretch. Not sure what more Morton could have done on some of those shots Harper made.

G — 2 Eric Hunter (6-4, 175, Sr.)

3.9 PPG • 1.8 AST

Hunter played 26 minutes and made a pair of big threes for Purdue at Rutgers, and may have just made a case for his starting job back. Whether that happens or not remains to be seen.

F — 0 Mason Gillis (6-6, 230, So.)

4.8 PPG • 2.8 REB (5 GAMES) • 42.9% 3-PT (3-7)

Gillis' hustle and effort have really mattered for Purdue. Against Iowa, it was the offensive glass. Against, Rutgers, twice he sprinted the floor in transition defense to take away open three-point looks.

Freshmen Trey Kaufman-Renn and Brian Waddell will redshirt this season. Waddell will miss most of the season after tearing his ACL.

Schedule | Roster | Stats

• N.C. State's two losses have come to Oklahoma State on a neutral floor and at home to Louisville. In their only other high-major game, the Wolfpack needed four overtimes to get past Nebraska in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.

• Dereon Seabron has been outstanding for N.C. State, averaging roughly 20 points and 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals from his small forward spot.

An excellent penetrator, finisher at the basket and drawer of fouls, Seabron can play a variety of positions, much like Ron Harper Jr., though the big difference is that Seabron is not a three-point shooter. He's 1-for-14 on the season.

Purdue struggled to defend Rutgers without fouling. Seabron has drawn 41 fouls this season and averages 6.8 free throw attempts per game.

• Starting center Ebenezer Dowuona is the younger brother of former Purdue big man Emmanuel Dowuona, who's now at Tennessee State.

The younger Dowuona is really N.C. State's only true big man since fellow post Manny Bates was lost for the season to a shoulder injury. Additionally, 6-foot-8 Providence transfer Greg Gantt has been sidelined by a sports hernia and hasn't played this season.

• Third-leading scorer Casey Morsell has been sidelined by an ankle injury. His status for the Purdue game is up in the air.

• N.C. State shoots 29.6 percent from three-point range and has just barely outrebounded its opponents for the season, despite six of their nine games to this point having come against mid- or low-major opponents.

STARTERS

F - 4 Jericole Hellems (6-7, 200, Sr.)

15 PPG • 4.1 RPG • 40.8% 3-PT

C - 21 Ebenezer Dowuona (6-11, 225, So.)

4.6 PPG • 5.1 REB • 2.8 BLK • 69.6% FG

G - 1 Dereon Seabron (67, 180, Jr.)

19.9 PPG • 11.2 RPG • 3.0 AST • 54.9% FG

G - 0 Terquavion Smith (6-4, 160, Fr.)

11 PPG • 3.9 RPG • 2.1 AST • 35.2% 3-PT

G - 3 Cam Hayes (6-3, 180, So.)

11.6 PPG • 2.6 RPG • 2.8 AST

KEY RESERVES

G - 14 Casey Morsell (6-3, 200, Jr.) (Q)

12.3 PPG • 4.3 RPG • 37.9% 3-PT

G - 5 Thomas Allen (6-1, 175, Sr.)

2.6 PPG

G - 10 Breon Pass (6-0, 175, Fr.)

2.4 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.

The Rutgers loss doesn't change the fact Purdue's a really, really good team capable of big things, but it did really expose some vulnerabilities the Boilermakers will need to be diligent about trying to patch up. N.C. State will test Purdue's ability to take care of the ball and make good decisions under pressure, and Seaborn will shine a light on its ability to defend without fouling, a huge issue in Piscataway. Nevertheless, Purdue's the better team, and out-of-conference teams likely won't know quite what to do with the Boilermakers' size. Expect a bounce-back performance here.

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