Purdue earns No. 1 seed in NCAA's Midwest Region: "It’s a special thing"

Lance Jones didn’t want to be the outlier in a room full of his peers who have enjoyed their share of NCAA Selection Shows.

“It was a really special,” Jones said Sunday. “I kind of held in my emotions because I didn’t want to be the only one celebrating. Everybody else was calm.”

Regardless of the emotions, Purdue’s success during the regular season earned the program its second consecutive No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament and fifth overall.

The Boilermakers open the Midwest Region against either Grambling or Montana State in Friday’s first round (7:25 p.m., TBS) at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Those two No. 16 seeds square off in the play-in game Wednesday night (6:40 p.m. truTV) in Dayton.

This tournament will be Jones’ first NCAA appearance for Southern Illinois transfer. The offseason move was to give Purdue another ballhandler and more quickness to handle defensive pressure and avoid some of the issues that haunted coach Matt Painter’s team during last year’s loss to FDU as a No. 1 seed.

And losing to a No. 16 seed as a top seed will be the storyline heading into Friday’s game.

While it’s an obvious talking point, it shouldn’t overshadow what this year’s team had to accomplish to return to the same position. The Boilermakers played another tough nonconference schedule, won the conference championship by three games, and sat atop the polls for the second straight season.

Earning a No. 1 seed shouldn’t be taken for granted.

“It’s really hard,” sophomore Fletcher Loyer said. “A lot of work put in over the summer and going to Europe and then the fall and going to Maui. It’s just a lot and it takes a lot out of you physically, mentally but ultimately the team stuck together and found a way.”

Senior Mason Gillis said: “We worked for it. It’s something that every single college team should cherish. It’s a special thing. It shows how hard we work and the success we’ve had.”

UConn, the defending national champion, was the No. 1 overall seed, followed by Houston, Purdue and North Carolina. The Boilermakers’ path through the bracket would include a matchup against either Utah State or Texas Christian in the second round, but they could also see No. 2 seed Tennessee, No. 3 seed Creighton, or No. 4 seed Kansas.

The other bonus for the Boilermakers is that they’ll play in their home state in an arena where they beat Arizona earlier this season during the Indy Classic and have a decided home-court fan advantage. If they’re fortunate to advance through the first two rounds, the regional will be played in Detroit.

“You earn that,” Painter said. “Houston stays in the South, UConn gets in the East, and North Carolina has to go to the West as the fourth No. 1. No matter if you’re the first, second, or third No. 1, you want to be in your area, you want to be in the Midwest. It’s pretty cool to be in Indianapolis as a 1 seed.”

NCAA TOURNAMENT

Friday

Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis

Western Kentucky vs. Marquette, 2 p.m. (TBS)

Colorado/Boise State vs. Florida, 4:30 p.m. (TBS)

Grambling/Montana State vs. Purdue, 7:25 p.m. (TBS)

Utah State vs. Texas Christian, 9:55 p.m. (TBS)

Note: Second-round games will be played on Sunday. Tip times and TV assignments will be announced following Friday’s first-round action.