NCAA Tournament: Arizona vs. Purdue Elite 8 Preview

SAN JOSE – After rolling through Arkansas in the Sweet 16, the UA is on the brink of breaking a 25-year-old curse in Tucson. Tommy Lloyd has Arizona back in its first regional championship since 2015 with a trip to the Final Four in Indianapolis on the line. Check out our preview of No. 1 Arizona and No. 2 Purdue ahead of Saturday’s Elite 8 matchup in San Jose.

Get to know the Purdue Boilermakers:

Purdue (30-8) is led by head coach Matt Painter and a trio of experienced veterans in Braden Smith, Trey Kaufman-Renn, and Fletcher Loyer. The Boilermakers finished sixth in the Big 10 regular seasons standings, but climbed to a 2-seed in the NCAA Tournament after taking down Michigan for the Big 10 Tournament title.

To get to the Elite 8, Purdue faced 15-seed Queens in the first round, then battled No. 7 Miami to make advance to the second week. In the first game of Thursday’s double-header in San Jose, the Boilermakers hung on against No. 11 Texas, winning 79-77 on a buzzer beater by Kaufman-Renn.

Head coach Matt Painter is a West Lafayette legend who played for the Boilermakers from 1989-1993 and helped lead the team to three NCAA Tournament appearances as a point guard. He’s been at the helm of Purdue since 2005, leading the team to sixteen NCAA Tournament appearances, including a national championship appearance in 2024.

Purdue’s trio of Smith, Kaufman-Renn, and Loyer will be some of the most experienced players the Wildcats face this season. Braden Smith, who broke Bobby Hurley’s all-time career assist record in the First Round victory over Queens, is both a scorer and a facilitator for the Boilermakers. He is one of two players to lead the team with 14.3 points and averages a near double-double with 8.9 assists per game. He also contributes 3.5 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game while shooting 44.6 percent from the field.

Alongside Smith in the back court is fellow senior Fletcher Loyer, a lethal 3-point shooter who averages 14.2 points game and shoots 43.5 percent from beyond the arc. On the wing, Purdue features C.J. Cox, a sophomore that has started all 38 games this season and averages 8.5 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game.

In the front court, the 6-foot-9 Trey Kaufman-Renn is the other leading scorer for Purdue, averaging 14.3 points per game. He also leads the team with 8.9 rebounds per game. Oscar Cluff holds it down at center for the Boilermakers. The 6-foot-11 Aussie, who began his collegiate career at Cochise College, a JUCO in Southern Arizona, is averaging 10.5 points and 7.4 rebounds while connecting on 69.0 percent of his attempts from the field this season.

Purdue by the Numbers:

Purdue checks in at No. 8 in the most up-to-date KenPom.com ratings. The Boilermakers boast the No.1 rated offense in college basketball (Arizona checks in at No. 4), averaging 82.1 points per game. On the defensive end, Purdue is significantly weaker with 36th-rated defense (Arizona is rated No. 3), allowing opponents to score 70.3 points per game.

While Purdue has the No. 1 adjusted offense, it checks in at 50th in average points per game, compared to Arizona which averages 86.7 points per game and ranks 12th in the nation. The Boilermakers are one of the most efficient offenses in college basketball, connecting on 50.3 percent of their field goals and averaging 30 made baskets per game, which is right on par with the Wildcats. With the help of Loyer, Purdue also ranks 14th in 3-point percentage this season, knocking down 9.2 shots from distance on average this season.

The Boilermakers are also one of the best teams at taking care of the basketball this season and average the sixth-fewest turnovers in the nation this season with just 8.9 per game.

In its three NCAA Tournament wins this season, Purdue is averaging 87.3 points per game on 55.2 percent shooting, while allowing opponents to score 72.3 points per game.

Arizona-Purdue Preview & Prediction:

The Wildcats are 5-8 all-time against the Boilermakers, falling 92-84 in the last meeting in Indianapolis in 2023. Arizona and Purdue have faced each other twice in the NCAA Tournament; the Wildcats took the first meeting in 1975, while Boilermakers were victorious in the First Round matchup in 2007.

In the past, this is a team that would scare us and Wildcat fans. Purdue has plenty of experience, got hot at the right time in the Big 10 Tournament, and can knock shots down from the perimeter while taking of the ball. But this Arizona team is different. The Wildcats manhandled one of the best offenses in college basketball in Arkansas on Thursday night, becoming the first team in NCAA Tournament history to have six players score 14+ points.

The battle between veteran point guards Jaden Bradley and Braden Smith will be a must-watch matchup, while Brayden Burries will have his hands full trying to disrupt Fletcher Loyer.

Koa Peat and Trey Kaufman-Renn are both tremendous athletes with size and physicality, which should lead to an exciting head to head matchup down low. Both have nice touch around the rim and can really get things going offensively, so it may come down to whoever is able to use their body to string together a couple stops on the defensive end.

As for the center battle, Oscar Cluff has a strong frame at 255 pounds, but could have a tough time against Motiejus Krivas, who continues to put his shot blocking and rim protection prowess on full display.

I expect this will be another higher scoring affair, with Arizona taking down Purdue 89-80 to secure the program’s first trip the Final Four since 2001.