GAMEDAY INFORMATION — NCAA ELITE EIGHT [2 seed] Purdue (30-8) vs. [1 seed] Arizona (35-2) Saturday, March 28, 2026 | 8:49 p.m. ET, 5:49 p.m. PT San Jose, California | SAP Center (19,000) TELEVISION: TBS, TruTV (Brian Anderson, Jim Jackson, Allie LaForce) RADIO: Purdue Global Radio Network (Rob Blackman, Bobby Riddell) PURDUE’S NUMBERS • Overall: 30-8 | Big Ten: 13-7 • Home: 12-5 | Away: 8-3 | Neutral: 10-0 • NCAA NET: 9th | KenPom: 8th • Off. Eff.: 1st | Def. Eff.: 36th BOILERMAKER QUICK HITTERS • Purdue will be aiming for its second Final Four in the last three seasons, and fourth overall, when it battles top-seeded Arizona in the West Regional final on Saturday night in San Jose. Purdue made the Final Four in 1969 (runner-up), 1980 (third place) and 2024 (runner-up). • Purdue is looking for its first win ever over a No. 1 seed, owning an 0-9 record all-time against No. 1 seeds. Purdue has faced a No. 1 seed in each of the last two NCAA Tournaments, falling to UConn in the 2024 National Championship game (75-60) and last season to Houston in Midwest Regional Sweet 16 (62-60). • Purdue owns an 8-5 all-time series lead against Arizona, having won three games in a row. The last meeting came in the Indy Classic on Dec. 16, 2023, when the No. 3-ranked Boilermakers toppled the No. 1-ranked Wildcats, 92-84. • Purdue owns a 3-0 record against Arizona teams ranked in the AP top 2. In addition to the above-mentioned win in Dec. 2023, Purdue defeated No. 2 Arizona, 89-64, in the 2017 Battle 4 Atlantis and No. 1-ranked Arizona, 72-69, in the 2000 Wooden Tradition played in Indianapolis. • Trey Kaufman-Renn became the third Boilermaker to hit a game-winning shot in the final 10 seconds of an NCAA Tournament game with his tip-in against Texas, joining Chris Kramer vs. Texas A&M (2010 second round) and Rick Mount (1969 Regional final). • Purdue improved to 10-0 in neutral-site games and 18-3 in games played away from Mackey Arena in the win over Texas. Purdue is winning by an average of 15.6 points and shooting 51.9 percent from the field in neutral-site action this season. • Since the start of the 2021-22 season, Purdue is a nation’s-best 41-9 (.820) in neutral-site games. Connecticut is second at 36-10 (.783). • The senior class set the school record for wins in a four-year span on Thursday, winning its 117th career game (117-31). The 117 wins are third most in Big Ten history by a senior class (2013 Ohio State – 123; 2014 Ohio State – 119). • Purdue and Houston are the only programs in America to have at least 29 wins in at least four of the last five seasons. • Purdue’s 19 NCAA Tournament wins are the fourth most in the country over the last 10 seasons (since 2016-17). Entering Friday’s action, Gonzaga (24), Duke (21) and Houston (21) are the only programs with more victories in NCAA Tournament play since 2016-17. • Over the last three years, Purdue is 10-2 in NCAA Tournament play. Entering Friday’s games, the 10 wins in NCAA Tournament games are the most in the country (Duke, Alabama, UConn – 9). • Purdue’s three Elite Eight appearances in the last seven tournaments are tied for the second most nationally in that span (Duke – 4; Purdue, Gonzaga, Houston – 3; Alabama, Michigan State, Tennessee, UConn can get to there on Friday). • Purdue is shooting 55.2 percent from the field, 44.2 percent from 3-point range and 81.5 percent from the free throw line in the NCAA Tourney. • Braden Smith needs to play just 14 minutes on Saturday, to set the NCAA record for most minutes played by a four-year player, according to Stathead. Smith has played 5,032 minutes, trailing leader Lionel Simmons (La Salle, 1987-90) by 13 minutes (5,045 minutes). • Braden Smith has 105 career assists in the NCAA Tournament, the fourth most in NCAA Tournament history (Bobby Hurley, Ed Cota, Sherman Douglas). Smith is the first player in NCAA Tournament history to have at least 150 points (152), 100 assists (105) and 50 rebounds (55). • Fletcher Loyer has scored in double-figures in 10 straight games (16.5 PPG), made a 3-pointer in 20 straight games (66-of-139; .475) and made at least two 3-pointers in 18 straight games (64-of-130; .492). In this year’s NCAA Tournmament, Loyer is averaging 18.7 points per game, shooting 12-of-20 (.600) from 3-point range. He has scored 56 points on 29 field goal attempts. • Trey Kaufman-Renn has scored in double-figures in 14 straight games, averaging 17.2 points and 8.1 rebounds per game, shooting 104-of-170 (.612) from the field. In this year’s NCAA Tournament, he is averaging 21.3 points, shooting 28-of-44 (.636) from the field. Over his last six NCAA Tournament games dating to last year, Kaufman-Renn is averaging 20.2 points and 9.0 rebounds, shooting 50-of-84 (.595) from the field. About The Author troyderengowski61@gmail.com See author's posts Post navigation PURDUE VS. TEXAS GAMEDAY INFORMATION
