Purdue Basketball: Boilermakers open tournament with Cal St. Fullerton

The Purdue Boilermakers begin their quest in the NCAA tournament as a two seed on Friday when they take on the 15th seeded Cal St. Fullerton in Detroit.

TV Schedule: 12:40 PM ET, TRUTV

Location: Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan

One of the favorites in the east region opens their tournament play on Friday afternoon, facing off against one of the lesser known tournament teams in the Cal St. Fullerton Titans. A team that made a surprising run through the Big West Conference tournament as the fourth seed is coming into this contest on a roll. But on paper, the Boilermakers are overwhelming favorites.

For those in search of finding any way to give Fullerton a chance to pull the massive upset, it is worth noting that they have played four games in the time that Purdue has played one. The Big Ten conference tournament featuring Purdue and Michigan occurred 12 days prior to this contest, meaning that rust could be an issue for the Boilermakers.

The counter argument to rust however is that Purdue, with four seniors in the starting lineup, is not as susceptible to a long delay as a younger team would be. Also, given extra time to prepare for the game, a well-coached Purdue squad will be more focused and prepared to come in.

As far as the actual matchups on the court, Matt Painter’s team holds the advantage in every category. Superior guard and forward play give the Boilermakers an edge if no other variable gets in the way. Carsen and Vincent Edwards anchor one of the strongest backcourts in the country, and the seven-foot Isaac Haas dominates the paint as a strong shot blocker on defense and post positioner offensively.

Purdue is also deep, with Nojel Eastern and Ryan Cline coming off of the bench to assist the backcourt, and the ever-energetic Matt Haarms backing up Haas in the frontcourt.

The Titans are a nice Cinderella story, knocking off the higher-seeded UC Davis and UC Irvine in two consecutive days to win the conference tournament and punch their ticket to the big dance. But going up against one of the Big Ten’s top teams and a team with such overwhelming size is an entirely different animal for the Titans.

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Purdue will score early and often in this one. They will quickly jump out to a double-digit lead and never look back, emptying the bench in the later stages of the second half due to their comfortable lead.

Prediction: Purdue 91, Cal St. Fullerton 55

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