All-American Jaden Ivey on Friday scored 22 points to lead the third-seeded Purdue Boilermakers to a 78-56 win over the No. 14 seed Yale Bulldogs in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Ivey scored 18 points alone in the first half as Purdue took a 13-point lead into halftime. They outscored Yale by nine points in the second half to pull out the win and improve to 23-8 all-time in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Purdue will face No. 6 seed Texas on Sunday.
Ivey, who is projected to be a lottery pick this year in the NBA draft, finished the contest by shooting 6-of-13 from the field, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range. He also added four rebounds, two steals and one assist in 28 minutes of work.
Jaden Ivey already has 15 points in TEN minutes 😳 pic.twitter.com/9DELsJag2m
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 18, 2022
With Ivey at the helm, Purdue is among the teams in contention to make a deep run in the tournament this year. He is as explosive of an athlete there is in college basketball and has emerged as one of the top players to watch in the tournament.
The Boilermakers caught a bit of a break with second-seeded Kentucky falling to No. 15 seed Saint Peter’s on Thursday. With a win on Sunday, Purdue would meet either No. 7 seed Murray State or Saint Peter’s in the Sweet 16, two teams they would likely be favored to beat.
Purdue appears to be on the verge of a deep tournament run, meaning the basketball world will soon have plenty of chances to watch Ivey on the biggest stage in the game.
This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
[listicle id=73797]