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Freshman Jaden Ivey expects Purdue to have long tourney run: ‘I plan to stay until April’
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This might be Jaden Ivey’s first appearance in the NCAA Tournament, but the Purdue freshman has high expectations.
Sunday, Purdue earned a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will play No. 13 North Texas to begin their postseason campaign. The game is scheduled for 7:25 p.m. ET with the game being played at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis and airing on TNT.
After it was revealed that the Boilermakers officially earned a spot in the tournament, Ivey talked about his high expectations for his first-ever March Madness experience. He has no plans to head back to West Lafayette early.
“I packed a lot. I packed my whole suitcase,” Ivey said, per Andrew Pogar of WLFI. “I packed everything. I plan to stay until April.”
#Purdue freshman Jaden Ivey is ready for his first NCAA Tournament:
“I packed a lot. I packed my whole suitcase. I packed everything. I plan to stay until April.”
— Andrew Pogar (@AndrewPogar) March 15, 2021
Purdue suffered a frustrating loss in the B1G Tournament on Friday, falling 87-78 in overtime to Ohio State. The Boilermakers overcame an 18-point halftime deficit and had a chance to win the game but couldn’t make enough plays in the extra five minutes.
That loss appears to have fueled Ivey’s fire.
As a freshman, Ivey is averaging 10.5 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game while playing over 23 minutes per contest. He’s come on strong late in the season on both ends of the floor.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB