Purdue will face Grambling (21-14) in its first-round game at the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers advanced out of the First Four with an 88-81 overtime win over Montana State in Dayton on Wednesday night.

Forward Jourdan Smith played every minute of Wednesday night’s contest, scoring 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting to go with 9 rebounds. He also had 3 blocks, 2 steals, and a pair of triples. Guard Antwan Burnett added 18 points on 5-of-9 shooting while guard Jimel Cofer scored a team-best 19 on 7-9 shooting in just 22 minutes.

As a team, Grambling took 23 free throws — 8 more than Montana State. The Bobcats shot better from the field (52% to 50%) and knocked down 13 3-pointers to just 4 from Grambling, but the free throw disparity combined with 12 turnovers proved to be the Bobcats’ undoing.

Grambling turned Montana State’s 12 turnovers into 23 points and feasted in the paint (52-28).

The game was tied with 4:48 to play in the first half, but Montana State closed the final 4 minutes and change on a 13-4 run to go into the break leading 42-33. Montana State pushed the lead to as many as 14 points early in the second half before Grambling mounted its comeback.

Trailing 53-40 with 14:37 to play, Grambling would score 11 unanswered points to erase the lead. From the 14:37 mark to the 5:29 mark in the second half, Grambling outscored Montana State 23-6 to flip the game.

In overtime, Grambling closed on a 10-3 run while Montana State went ice-cold from the floor, missing 5 of its final 6 shots.

After winning its first SWAC Tournament title, Grambling now has its first-ever NCAA Tournament victory.

Friday’s game against top-seed Purdue is slated to tip off at 7:25 p.m. ET on TBS. The Boilermakers opened as a 25.5-point favorite at FanDuel.

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