MILWAUKEE — Yale coach James Jones calls Purdue's Jaden Ivey — who he coached with USA Basketball this summer — "one of the fastest human beings I've seen with a basketball" and jokes about simulating Zach Edey's size using large vehicles on his practice floor.

As for his own best player, Azar Swain ...

"He's the best player in the entire country that can't dunk a basketball," Jones joked. "You find somebody that's better than him that can't dunk a basketball and I'd call you a liar."

There's the face of Friday's NCAA Tournament meeting between the Boilermakers and Bulldogs at Fiserv Forum.

It's a bout between one of the most formidable and physically gifted teams in college basketball and classic Ivy League pluck and intangibles.

Swain — all of 6-1, 185 — is an adult who'd look the part at a 9-to-5 as much as he does on a basketball court, a player who sat out the whole year last season just to play one last season at Yale, whereas some of the Ivy's other top players scattered upon the cancelation of its season.

In that final season, Swain's averaging 18.3 points per game. He's the Bulldogs' offensive alpha, a clever scorer who can make all kinds of jumpers who'll probably see quite a bit of pick-and-roll run against the Boilermakers.

"He's just a tough nut," Jones said. "He's tremendous, a really tough kid, hard-nosed, absolutely fearless. And he never met a shot he didn't like. His shot selection has gotten better here over the last couple games, which makes his coach happy, but he'll shoot from anywhere."

Every year, the NCAA Tournament sees some mid- or low-major guard get hot and make a name for themselves on a bigger stage.

Purdue will hope Swain's not that guy.

"Swain is one of those guys that's a threat right as soon as he steps on the court," Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "He can shoot off the dribble, he can play in the mid post. He can obviously catch and shoot. He can dribble into threes. He's just got a real mature pulse to his game."

Swain's shooting just a modest 32-some percent from three-point range, but was 8-of-16 in two Ivy League Tournament games, but has 7-of-14, 5-of-6 and 6-of-8 games this season.

"A lot of times, guys who can shoot the ball, there's something they can't do," Painter said. "If you make them dribble, if you make them go one way or the other, now their percentages really drop. With him, he can do all of it in terms of scoring the basketball. So you really want to be able to take up his space and make it hard for him like you would any other scorer or shooter. When you have a guy out there that can get 30, 35 points in a game, as a coach, that always scares you."

That's where Eric Hunter comes in.

Purdue's defensive tone-setter will draw the assignment on Swain.

"He's super-patient and can really shoot the ball from anywhere," Hunter said. "He's kind of like Jordan Bohannon in a way in that he can explode from beyond the arc, but also be patient inside and get to his step-backs and floaters and stuff like that."

Membership Info: Sign up for GoldandBlack.com now | Why join? | Questions?

Follow GoldandBlack.com: Twitter | Facebook | YouTube

More: Gold and Black Illustrated/Gold and Black Express | Subscribe to our podcast

Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2022. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited.