GAMEDAY INFORMATION -- NCAA FIRST ROUND
[2 seed] Purdue (27-8) vs. [15 seed] Queens (21-13)
Friday, March 20, 2026 | 7:35 p.m. ET, 6:35 p.m. CT
St. Louis, Missouri | Enterprise Center (18,096)
TELEVISION: TruTV (Spero Dedes, Jim Spanarkel, Jon Rothstein)
RADIO: Purdue Global Radio Network (Rob Blackman, Bobby Riddell)
PURDUE'S NUMBERS
• Overall: 27-8 | Big Ten: 13-7
• Home: 12-5 | Away: 8-3 | Neutral: 7-0
• Q1: 11-8 | Q2: 6-0 | Q3: 7-0 | Q4: 3-0
• NCAA NET: 9th | KenPom: 8th
• Off. Eff.: 1st | Def. Eff.: 36th
• NCAA SOS: 6th | KenPom SOS: 7th
THE SCENE SETTER
• The final March Madness run for a group that has seen everything begins on Friday when the 2nd-seeded Boilermakers battle 15th-seeded Queens in an NCAA first-round matchup in St. Louis. Purdue is a top-two seed for the eighth time in school history and the fourth time (2018, 2023, 2024, 2026) under Matt Painter. Purdue is 1-of-3 teams (Houston, Arizona) to have at least three top-2 seeds in the last four years.
• Should Purdue advance past Queens, it will face the winner of Miami and Missouri in Sunday's round of 32 contest.
PURDUE BASKETBALL FAST FACTS
• Coming off a Big Ten Tournament title, the Purdue Boilermakers begin their quest for a long NCAA Tournament run against Queens University (N.C.) on Friday in St. Louis. It will be the first meeting for the Boilermakers against Queens in school history.
• Purdue will be facing an Atlantic Sun team in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history. The Boilermakers are 14-2 against the current members of the Atlantic Sun Conference, last facing a team from the league in Dec. 2023 (Jacksonville; win, 100-57).
• Purdue finished the season with 11 quad-1 victories, good for fifth in the country. Purdue's 24 wins in the first three quads rank fourth nationally (Michigan - 28; Duke, Arizona - 25). The Boilermakers played 17 games against NCAA Tournament teams (Kentucky the most - 19).
• Purdue is one-of-six teams to record at least 24 victories in each of the last five seasons (Houston, Duke, Arizona, Gonzaga, Saint Mary's).
• Since Feb. 1, Purdue ranks first nationally in overall efficiency in games played away from Mackey Arena (road or neutral site), via BartTorvik.com. The Boilermakers are 8-1 away from Mackey Arena since Feb. 1, boasting an offensive efficiency rating of 140.3.
• Over the last four seasons (since 2022-23; arrival of Smith, Loyer, TKR), Purdue's 114 wins are tied for the fourth most nationally (Houston - 128; Connecticut - 121; Duke - 121; Gonzaga - 114).
• In the win over Michigan, Purdue improved to 22-1 when holding opponents under 48 percent shooting. Purdue is 17-1 when holding foes to 69 or fewer points this season. During the four games in the Big Ten Tournament, Purdue held opponents to 66.0 points per game.
• Braden Smith needs two assists to set the NCAA career assists record. Smith, who has 1,075 career assists, trails only Bobby Hurley (1,076) on the list. Smith is the only player in NCAA history to have at least 1,500 points, 1,000 assists and 500 career rebounds.
• Fletcher Loyer has made at least two 3-pointers in 15 straight games and since the start of February, is shooting 50-of-104 (.481) from 3-point range. His 50, 3-pointers since the start of February are the fourth most in the country. Loyer needs five 3-pointers for 300 in his career.
• C.J. Cox has just five turnovers in his last 28 games, spanning 683 minutes.
• Trey Kaufman-Renn has scored in double-figures in 11 straight games, averaging 16.1 points and 7.8 rebounds, shooting 60.3 percent.
• In games that Oscar Cluff plays at least 30 minutes, Purdue is 6-0. In those games, he is averaging 14.3 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists, while shooting 35-of-46 (.761) from the field. He averaged 17.3 points and 9.5 rebounds in 29.5 minutes per game during the Big Ten Tourney.
• Gicarri Harris is shooting 23-of-50 (.460) from long distance away from Mackey Arena. In home games, he was 7-of-36 (.194).
• Matt Painter needs two wins for 500 during his time at Purdue, owning a 498-223 record in his 21st season with the Boilermakers.