SIU Edwardsville @ Purdue preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 22, 2009 ) SIU - Edwardsville 63, Purdue 90

With a veteran club returning, No. 21 Purdue is looking to advance to its first Final Four since coach Matt Painter showed up on campus as a freshman guard in 1989. That journey starts Friday when SIU-Edwardsville visits the Boilermakers.

With Big Ten Player of the Year Caleb Swanigan (18.5 points, 12.5 rebounds) leading the way, Purdue won the regular-season conference title outright last season for the first time since 1996 but fell to Michigan in the first round of the Big Ten tournament before getting routed by 32 points by Kansas in the NCAA Tournament’s round of 16. Swanigan is now playing for the Portland Trail Blazers, but Painter returns six of his top seven scorers, including four seniors that have been a part of 74 home wins over the last three years while boasting the best home record in the Big Ten during that span. The Boilermakers, who have earned five Sweet 16 appearances in the season Painter has been the head coach or an assistant, were hoping for a magical start to a Final Four run this summer in the World University Games but lost in the Gold Medal game to Lithuania. If Purdue is to make a big push in the NCAA Tournament this spring, 6-8 senior forward Vincent Edwards - a preseason All-Big Ten pick who averaged 12.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 2016-17 - will be counted on to lead the way.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network Plus

ABOUT SIU-EDWARDSVILLE (2016-17: 6-24): The Cougars have no winning seasons and a high of 12 victories (2014-15) since its move to Division I in 2008, and they finished last season by dropping 21 of their last 23 games. The club lost three of their top four scorers from a season ago, but senior 6-8 forward Jalen Henry (12.5 points, 5.6 rebounds) returns after being considered the team’s best player by third-year coach Jon Harris last season. Keenan Simmons, a 6-6 senior (6.7 points, 7.2 rebounds, 1.3 blocks), who was the only regular to shoot better than 46 percent from the floor last season, and guard Christian Ellis (7.3 points, four rebounds, 3.2 assists) are other returning contributors.

ABOUT PURDUE (2016-17: 27-8): Joining Edwards in the starting lineup up front is 7-2 senior center Isaac Haas (12.6 points, five rebounds in 19.5 minutes), who shot 58 percent from the floor but had 78 turnovers and only 20 assists last season. In the backcourt, Dakota Mathias (9.7 points, 3.8 assists, 45 percent on 3-pointers), fellow senior point guard P.J. Thompson (7.4 points, 3.9 assists/turnover ratio) and sophomore guard Carsen Edwards (10.3 points) provide experience and efficiency. Providing depth will be junior guard Ryan Cline (5.4 points per game, 41 percent from the arc), who started the last seven games last season, and 7-3 freshman center Matt Haarms, who had 18 points and eight rebounds during an intra-squad scrimmage and followed that with 12 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots in 17 minutes during an exhibition win over Indiana State.

TIP-INS

1. G Carsen Edwards scored 30 points on 11-of-16 shooting, including 4-of-6 from the arc, in Purdue’s intrasquad scrimmage. He added 16 points in an exhibition win over Indiana State and 18 points, five assists and four steals against Carroll College in the final tuneup.

2. At the conclusion of the 2016-17 season, F Vincent Edwards was one of 14 players who had generated 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 300 assists and 100 3-pointers over their careers and the only non-senior.

3. The Boilermakers are 24-0 in exhibition games during Painter’s 13 years at the helm.

PREDICTION: Purdue 79, SIU-Edwardsville 58