In a match that has already seen heavy favorites in Auburn and Kentucky have their title goals go up in smoke, one premier frontrunner took care of enterprise within the Spherical of 64.
No. 1 seed Purdue touched No. 16 seed Grambling State 78-50 on Friday.
The win little question comes as a reduction to a fanbase nonetheless reeling from final yr’s first-round loss to Fairleigh Dickinson, which was solely the second time in NCAA Match historical past {that a} No. 16 seed has toppled a No. 1 seed.
Led this time round by a 30-point effort from Zach Edey, the Boilermakers comfortably beat down the Tigers, who had been possible drained after an additional time First 4 victory on Wednesday night time. Edey’s large night time was particularly appreciated in a recreation the place no different Boilermakers scored greater than 11 factors. And Purdue solely acquired 11 complete factors from their bench.
On the different finish of the courtroom, nonetheless, Purdue’s stifling protection held Grambling State to 50 factors on simply 36.4 p.c taking pictures. The Tigers solely went 3 of 12 from past the arc, failing to maintain tempo regardless of a standout effort from senior guard Tra’Michael Moton, who led the workforce in scoring with 21 factors. Junior guard Kintavious Dozier added 16 factors for Grambling State, nevertheless it wasn’t close to sufficient to fight the herculean effort of Edey.
Predictably, Grambling State misplaced the rebound battle 48-23 with Edey grabbing 21 boards and blocking three pictures to go together with his 30 factors.
Purdue will tackle the winner of TCU-Utah State on Sunday, trying to advance to the Candy 16 and get revenge for his or her short-lived 2023 NCAA Match run.
