GAMEDAY INFORMATION — GAME 34 /// NCAA TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND
[1 Seed] Purdue (29-4) vs. [16] Montana State (17-17) OR Grambling (20-14)
Friday, March 22, 2024
7:25 p.m. ET | Indianapolis, Indiana
Gainbridge Fieldhouse
TELEVISION: TBS (Kevin Harlan, Dan Bonner, Stan VanGundy, Andy Katz)
RADIO: Purdue Global Radio Network (Rob Blackman, Bobby Riddell)

THE NOTES TO KNOW
• The Purdue Boilermakers, the Midwest Region’s top seed, begins their March Madness quest just 60 miles down on I-65, as it heads to Indianapolis for an NCAA Tournament first-round matchup against the winner of Grambling and Montana State. Tip is scheduled for Friday at 7:25 p.m. ET, as the Boilermakers aim for their 30th win of the season.
• The Boilermakers earned the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region, thanks to a 6-0 record against top-4 seeds in the NCAA Tournament. The Boilermakers’ No. 1 seed was its fifth in school history (1988, 1994, 1996, 2023, 2024).
• Purdue (29, 29, 29) and Houston (32, 33, 30) are the only schools in America to have at least 29 wins in each of the last three seasons.
• Purdue is one of three major-conference teams (UConn, Houston, Purdue) entering the NCAA Tournament with four or fewer losses. No other major-conference team has fewer than seven losses (Auburn, Iowa State, North Carolina, South Carolina).
• Purdue has won nine straight games against teams ranked in the Associated Press top 12 at the time of the game. The winning streak is the fourth-longest nationally over the last 50 years and ninth-longest in NCAA history. The Boilermakers have won 18 straight non-conference games (regular season and postseason) against power-conference OR nationally-ranked teams. It’s last loss came Dec. 19, 2020 vs. Butler.
• Purdue’s schedule ranks as the fourth-most difficult in the country and its non-conference foes won the Southern Conference by three games (Samford), the Ohio Valley (Morehead State), the Atlantic Sun (Eastern Kentucky) the SEC (Tennessee) and PAC-12 (Arizona). Marquette (Big East) and Gonzaga (WCC) finished in second place in their respective conferences.
• Purdue has beaten teams ranked 4th (Arizona), 7th (Tennessee), 9th (Alabama), 13th twice (Illinois), 14th (Marquette), 17th (Gonzaga), 21st twice (Wisconsin) and 24th twice (Michigan State) in the NCAA NET rankings. The Boilermakers are 11-1 against the NCAA NET top 25.
• Purdue ranks in the NCAA’s top 20 in 3-point percentage (2nd), rebound margin (2nd), off. efficiency (4th), wins (5th), assists per game (6th), scoring margin (10th), scoring offense (12th), field goal percentage (16th), assist / turnover ratio (17th) and fewest fouls per game (20th).
• Since the start of last season, Purdue is 58-10, the fourth-most wins nationally, while the 10 losses are the second fewest behind Houston (8). The 10 losses during that span have come by 1, 5, 6, 14, 8, 5, 4 (OT), 16, 4 and 1 (OT) points (64 combined points). Forty-four of the 58 wins have come against teams ranked in the KenPom top-100, including 31 against teams ranked in the top-50.
• Purdue was voted No. 3 in the final AP poll on Monday. With its No. 3 ranking this week, Purdue has now been ranked in the top 5 of the AP poll for 36 straight weeks, the longest-active streak in America by 17 weeks (UConn – 19). It has been ranked in the top 3 in 30 of those weeks. The 36 weeks of being ranked in the top 5 is the third longest in confererence history (41 — Ohio State, 1960-63; 38 — Indiana, 1975-77).
• The No. 3 ranking in the final AP poll matches the highest final ranking in school history (also 2023, 1994, 1988).
• Zach Edey became the school career record-holder in points (2,339) against Wisconsin and is now Purdue’s career leader in points (2,339), rebounds (1,234), double-doubles (63), free throw attempts (876) and dunks (265). He is second in double-figure scoring games (110), field goal percentage (.619) and free throws made (620).
• Braden Smith needs seven assists for 400 in his career, which would make him the fourth player in Big Ten history to have at least 400 assists by the end of his sophomore season (Magic Johnson – 491; Cassius Winston – 423; Trey Burke – 416). He would become just the second sophomore in league history with at least 750 points, 400 assists and 300 rebounds (Magic Johnson).
• Zach Edey and Mason Gillis are the only players in Purdue history to score at least 800 points with 500 rebounds and 100 assists and to shoot at least 50.0 percent from 3-point range. Edey is 1-of-2 from deep, while Gillis is at 144-of-353 (.408).
• A win in Friday’s first round will give Purdue its 30th win of the season, matching the school record set in 2018 (30-7).
• Purdue has received back-to-back No. 1 seeds for the first time in school history. Purdue and Houston have both been No. 1 seeds in consecutive years entering this year’s postseason.
• Purdue is one of three teams (Baylor, Arizona) to receive a top-3 seed in each of the last three NCAA Tournaments.
• The Boilermakers have been to nine straight NCAA Tournaments, the fourth-longest streak in America (Kansas – 34; Michigan State – 26; Gonzaga – 25; Purdue – 9).
• Purdue is one of four teams (Purdue, Auburn, UConn, Houston) without a loss outside Quad-1.
• Purdue enters the tournament with a nation’s-best 21 victories over the NET top 100, including 11 over the top 25. Purdue is 11-1 against the NET’s top 25 (lone loss: Wisconsin in BTT Semifinals).
• Purdue owns nine straight wins over teams ranked in the AP Top 15. Florida Atlantic is next in line with three straight victories.
• Purdue is averaging 83.4 points per game, an increase of 10.7 points per game from a year ago, the Boilermakers’ highest increase in scoring average since the 1992-93 to 1993-94 season (+13.5).
• Purdue is 23-0 when it has 13 or fewer turnovers on the season. The Boilermakers are 6-4 when they have 14 or more turnovers.
• Purdue has started the same starting five in all 33 games, the longest stretch to start a year in school history. Purdue has never had a season where it started the same five all season.
• Purdue has trailed by six or more points in 10 games this year, posting an 8-2 record in those games.
• A year ago, Purdue shot 32.2 percent from 3-point range, a number that ranked 281st nationally. This year, Purdue is at 40.8 percent, ranking second nationally. Purdue had one player (Braden Smith) shoot over 36.0 percent from deep a year ago. This year, Purdue has eight players over 36.0 percent and another (Lance Jones) at 35.4 percent.
• Zach Edey’s 25.4 points per game in Big Ten play were the second-highest total in the Big Ten since the turn of the century (2020 – Luka Garza; 26.2).
• Zach Edey is averaging 11.21 free throw attempts per game. Based on a 39-game season, he would shoot 437 free throw attempts, which would be the second most in NCAA history (Furman’s Frank Selvy in 1954; 444). His 370 free throw attempts are already the most since 2009 (UTEP’s Stefon Jackson – 374).
• Zach Edey’s assist-to turnover ratio over his four years (FR – 0.26; SOPH – 0.69; JR – 0.68; SR – 0.92).
• Zach Edey has scored at least 22 points in 10 straight games. He has grabbed at least 12 rebounds in six of those games. He has also dished out at least three assists in seven of the games (5 straight).
• Braden Smith became the first Purdue player since Tony Jones (1990) to lead the Big Ten in assists, averaging 7.6 assists per game in league play. Smith’s 151 assists in conference play were the second most in league games behind Michigan State’s Cassius Winston (157) in 2019.
• Purdue’s Braden Smith and Colgate’s Braeden Smith (14 seed – West Region) are the only players in America with at least 175 rebounds, 175 assists and 50 steals in a season.
• Braden Smith leads all players in the NCAA Tournament with 240 assists, ranking second nationally overall. Colorado State’s Isaiah Stevens is second (237), while Baylor’s Rayj Dennis is third (225).
• Among players in the NCAA Tournament field that have made at least 50, 3-pointers this year, Mason Gillis is third in 3-point percentage (.481), while Fletcher Loyer is 16th (.439).
• Among players that made at least 20, 3-pointers in Big Ten play, Fletcher Loyer (33-68; .485) and Mason Gillis (36-75; .480) ranked first and third in 3-point percentage.