By R.G. Mason

3 24 2024

PURDUE GAME NOTES

https://purduesports.com/documents/2024/3/23/GAME35_Purdue_Game_Notes.pdf

GAMEDAY INFORMATION — GAME 35 /// NCAA TOURNAMENT SECOND ROUND
[1 Seed] Purdue (30-4) vs. [8 Seed] Utah State (28-6)
Sunday, March 24, 2024
2:40 p.m. ET | Indianapolis, Indiana
Gainbridge Fieldhouse (18,345)
TELEVISION: CBS (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, aims for their fifth Sweet 16 appearance in the last seven tournaments, when it battles No. 20-ranked and No. 8 seed Utah State in Sunday’s second-round showdown in Indianapolis.
• Purdue leads the all-time series with Utah State (1-0), defeating the Aggies 85-64 in the Cancun Challenge on Nov. 22, 2016.
• Purdue has reached the Sweet 16 six times under Matt Painter, including four times in the last six tournaments (2017, 2018, 2019, 2022). Since 2017, only Gonzaga (6) and Michigan (5) have made more Sweet 16s than the Boilermakers.
• Purdue’s 30 wins have tied a school record for most wins in a season (30-7; 2017-18 season). The 30 victories are the fourth most in the country entering the second round (Connecticut, James Madison – 32; Houston – 31).
• Purdue (29, 29, 30) and Houston (32, 33, 31) are the only schools in America to have at least 29 wins in each of the last three seasons.
• Purdue is 7-0 against nationally-ranked teams this season, with all seven victories coming against teams ranked in the AP top 12. Utah State enters Sunday’s game ranked No. 20 in the final Associated Press Top 25.
• Purdue has won 18 straight non-conference, regular-season AND postseason games against teams that are either in a power conference OR nationally-ranked, the fourth-longest streak in NCAA history. Utah State falls in the category, ranked No. 20 in the final AP poll.
• Purdue enters the second round as one of six teams to rank in the top 20 in both offensive and defensive efficiency via KenPom.com (Connecticut, Purdue, Arizona, Houston, North Carolina, Marquette).
• Utah State assistant coach Johnny Hill was a transfer at Purdue for the 2015-16 season, averaging 5.1 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game for the 26-9 Boilermakers. Hill has had stops at Northwestern Ohio, Grand Canyon, Idaho and Montana State before heading to Utah State with Danny Sprinkle.
• Purdue’s 28-point margin was over Grambling was Purdue’s largest in the NCAA Tournament since March 13, 1998 (95-56 vs. Delaware). The 28-point victory was the fourth-largest win of the first round (40 – Houston; 39 – UConn; 34 – Tennessee; 28 – Purdue).
• The 50 points allowed against Grambing were the fewest allowed in a NCAA game since March 21, 2019 vs. Old Dominion (61-48 win).
• Purdue recorded 23 assists against 10 turnovers, improving to 24-0 when having 13 or fewer turnovers.
• Purdue is shooting 42.2 percent from 3-point range in the last 11 games (86-of-204). Fletcher Loyer and Braden Smith are a combined 32-of-66 (.485) from deep in that span.
• Zach Edey became just the second player in the last 50 years to record a 30-20 game in the NCAA Tournament, joining Maryland’s Joe Smith vs. Texas (March 18, 1995) as the only players to do so in the last 50 years. Edey became the first player since Memphis’ Larry Kenon in 1975 to have at least 30 points, 20 rebounds, three blocks and two assists in an NCAA Tournament game.
• Zach Edey became just the sixth player in NCAA Tournament history, and the first since 1972, to have 30 points and 20 rebounds and shoot at least 60.0 percent from the field in a win (1972 – Bill Walton; 1972 – Roy Ebron (Marshall); 1969 – Lew Alcindor; 1968 – Elvin Hayes; 1961 – Jerry Lucas).
•    The 30-20 game was Zach Edey’s third of his career, the most for a player in the last 25 years. He has scored at least 22 points in 11 straight games, averaging 26.7 points, 12.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.1 blocks per game.
• Zach Edey has shot 384 free throws, already the eighth most in a season in NCAA history and the most since 1970 (Pete Maravich – 440).
• Zach Edey became the first player in NCAA history with 800 points, 400 rebounds, 50 assists and 50 blocks in a season, entering the second-round matchup with 836 points, 408 rebounds, 76 blocked shots and 70 assists. He needs 17 rebounds to become the fourth player in NCAA history with at least two seasons of 750 points and 425 rebounds (Elvin Hayes – 3; Rick Barry – 2; Oscar Robertson – 2).
• Braden Smith recorded his seventh double-double of the season with 11 points, 10 assists and five rebounds, with zero turnovers. Smith’s 10 assists with no turnovers made him the first Purdue player since Nov. 2011 (Lewis Jackson) to have at least 10 assists with no turnovers.
• Smith became the seventh player in Big Ten history to have 250 assists in a season (Cassius Winston, Mateen Cleaves, Magic Johnson, Deron Williams, Trey Burke, Demitri McCamey).
• Braden Smith needs four rebounds to become the fifth player in NCAA history with 425 points, 250 assists and 200 rebounds in a season (UCLA’s Lonzo Ball, BYU’s Kyle Collinsworth, Cal’s Jason Kidd, Michigan State’s Magic Johnson).
• Braden Smith (403) surpassed 400 assists in his career in the win over Grambling, making 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 is 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 40.0 percent from 3-point range. Edey is 1-of-2 from deep, while Gillis is at 144-of-355 (.406).
• Fletcher Loyer is 41-of-83 (.494) from 3-point range in the last 24 games which consists of the final non-conference game, the entire Big Ten season, the Big Ten Tournament and the first-round win over Grambling. In his last six games, Loyer is 12-of-16 (.750) from deep.
• Trey Kaufman-Renn had 11 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists in the opening-round win over Grambling. TKR’s 11 points were his most since scoring 12 against Ohio State (Feb. 18). It marked his second double-digit scoring game in his last 19 games. He has 20 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists in 38 minutes over the last two games.
• Purdue’s 2,830 points scored are the fifth most in school history. The Boilermakers are averaging 83.2 points per game, the highest average in a season since the 1997-98 season (83.7 PPG).

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GAME NOTES

https://utahstateaggies.com/documents/2024/3/23/Game_35_NCAA_Tournament_-_Purdue.pdf

Opening Tips
• Utah State is playing in its 24th NCAA Tournament all-time, including for the second straight year and fourth time in the last six years. (USU also qualified for the 2020 NCAA Tournament prior to it being canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.) Since the turn of the century, USU has played in 12 NCAA Tournaments (2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2024).

• With its 88-72 win against TCU in the first round, Utah State snapped its 10-game losing streak in the NCAA Tournament and posted its first win since defeating Ohio State 77-68 in overtime of the 2001 NCAA Tournament.

• Utah State’s 16-point win against TCU (88-72) is its largest NCAA Tournament win in school history, bettering its 10-point win (91-81) against UTEP in 1970.

• This is just the second time that Utah State has played in the round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament since seeding started in 1980. In 2001, USU lost to fourth-seeded UCLA in the second round, 75-50. Prior to the 2001 season, the last time USU advanced past the first round of the NCAA Tournament was in 1970 when that Aggie team defeated UTEP (91-81) in the round of 32, defeated Santa Clara (69-68) in the Sweet 16, and lost to No. 2 UCLA (101-79) in the Elite Eight.

• Utah State won its first outright Mountain West regular season title in its 11 years in the league. USU has now won or shared 18 conference championship all-time (1918, 1926, 1930, 1935, 1936, 1980, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2019, 2024).

• No. 20 Utah State men’s basketball was well represented in the league’s postseason awards as voted by the league’s head coaches. Head coach Danny Sprinkle was named the Steve Fisher Coach of the Year, while junior wing Great Osobor was named both the Player and Newcomer of the Year and junior guard Josh Uduje the Co-Sixth Man of the Year.

• Osobor and graduate guard Darius Brown II each earned first team all-MW accolades, while senior guard Ian Martinez was an honorable mention selection. Brown was also named to the defensive team.

• Junior wing Great Osobor was named an Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American, as announced by the organization on Tuesday. Osobor is the eighth Aggie men’s basketball player to be recognized as an All-American by the AP and the first since Neemias Queta was an honorable mention All-American in 2021.

• Brown tied the program single-season record with 224 assists during the 2023-24 campaign. He is one assist away from surpassing the all-time record, passing Kris Clark who had 224 helpers in the 2007-08 campaign.

• Utah State’s 14 wins away from home this year (eight road, six neutral) are tied for the most in the Mountain West and tied for fourth in the nation.

• Utah State is one of just three teams in the nation returning zero points to its 2023-24 roster, joining New Mexico State and Northwestern State. The Aggies also have the second-fewest returning rebounds (0.004 percent) and are tied for the second-fewest returning assists (0.003 percent), both behind NMSU.

-USU-

COURTESY UTAH STATE ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS