Jaden Ivey scored 22 points and Zach Edey had 16 points and nine rebounds to lead third-seeded Purdue to a 78-56 victory over No. 14 seed Yale in the first round of the East Regional on Friday at Milwaukee.
Purdue (28-7) will face either sixth-seeded Texas (21-11) or No. 11 seed Virginia Tech (23-12) in the second round Sunday.
Azar Swain scored 18 points for Yale (19-12), which earned its seventh NCAA bid with a 66-64 victory over Princeton in the Ivy League tournament title game.
The Boilermakers took control with a 15-0 run in the second half, pushing the lead to 63-39 on two free throws by Caleb Furst with 11:27 remaining. Yale, which trailed by 13 at the half, got within 48-39 on Swain’s jumper from the right side, but the Bulldogs missed their next 15 shots during a nine-minute scoring drought.
“They made some plays to start the second half. We were able to answer and be able to push it out,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “I thought that was the key to the game right there, just keeping things simple, taking care of the basketball and getting quality shots each time down.”
The Bulldogs had starters E.J. Jarvis, Jalen Gabbidon and Bez Mbeng and reserve Jake Lanford each pick up a third foul in the opening four minutes of the second half.
The Boilermakers were 27 of 33 from the free-throw line, while Yale was just 6 of 11, all in the second half.
Purdue, which lost last season in the first round as a No. 4 seed, 78-69 in overtime to No. 13 seed North Texas, improved to 25-0 when scoring 70 or more points.
The Bulldogs, who shot 48.5 percent in the first half, were just 8 of 32 after the break.
Ivey scored 18 points and Edey had 13 points and 7 rebounds to pace Purdue to a 46-33 halftime lead. Ivey hit 4 of 6 shots, including 3 of 5 from beyond the arc.
The Boilermakers also were 14 of 19 from the free-throw line, while the Bulldogs did not attempt a free throw.
Purdue withstood a fast start by Yale and then responded with a 10-0 run to go up 25-16. Yale hit 7 of its first 9 shots, going in front 16-15 on a turnaround jumper from the lane by Swain, who hit his first five shots
–Field Level Media
