Things to Know About Purdue's NCAA Tournament Opponent: High Point
On Sunday night, Purdue learned of its opponent for the opening round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament. The fourth-seeded Boilermakers will play No. 13 seed High Point in the Round of 64 at 12:40 p.m. ET on Thursday, March 20. The game will air on truTV.
There's probably not a lot of familiarity with High Point, so let's get to know the Panthers, a team that has played really well throughout the 2024-25 season.
First ever NCAA Tournament appearance
High Point made program history this year, reaching the NCAA Tournament for the first time ever since its transition to Division I in the 1999-2000 season. The Panthers have played in the CIT twice (2013, 2015) and the NIT twice (2014, 2016), as well as the CBI (2024).
Among top offensive teams in college basketball
High Point is efficient in just about every statistical category offensively. The Panthers averaged 82.2 points per game, which ranked 18th nationally and shot the basketball at a 49.4% clip, which was the seventh-best mark in the country. Those are two pretty good starting points.
Additionally, High Point knocked down the three-point shot 36.4% of the time. which ranks among the top-70 in the NCAA. It's also a team that takes care of the basketball, averaging just over 10 turnovers per contest.
Won both Big South regular season and tournament titles
After making it through the Big South regular season with a 14-2 record and winning the league, the Panthers secured their spot in March Madness by winning the conference tournament with wins over Gardner-Webb (85-64), Radford (76-73) and Winthrop (81-69). High Point will enter the NCAA Tournament with a 29-5 overall record.
It goes without saying that a mid-major program isn't going to play the most daunting schedule in college basketball, but High Point's path to March Madness wasn't a cakewalk, either. This team's strength of schedule ranked 209th out of 364 teams. It's not a greatly challenging schedule, but it also wasn't the easiest.
High Point also enters the tournament having won its last 14 straight games.
Eight players averaging 5.0 points or more per game
What makes High Point such a difficult team to defend is the fact that it has a number of players capable of scoring the basketball. Eight different players are averaging at least 5.0 points per game this season, led by Kezza Giffa at 14.8 points per game. D'Maurian Williams and Kimani Hamilton are also scoring in double figures this year, averaging13.5 points and 13.4 points per game, respectively.
Other scoring threats for High Point include Bobby Pettiford (8.9 ppg), Chase Johnston (7.0 ppg), Abdoulaye Thiam (6.0 ppg), Simon Hildebrandt (5.6 ppg) Juslin Bodo Bodo (5.3 ppg).
A team full of veteran players
There are 11 players on High Point's roster who have played in at least 24 games this season. Nine of those players are juniors and seniors. The only underclassmen are 7-foot center Juslin Bodo Bodo (sophomore) and 6-foot-10 forward Josh Ibukunoluwa (freshman).
The Panthers have a lot of experience across the board, which will make this a tough team to beat in the NCAA Tournament, even if this is the first appearance in program history.
Some familiarity with coach Alan Huss
Coach Alan Huss is in his second season at High Point and has done a tremendous job in his short time with the program. In his first two seasons as the leader of the Panthers, Huss has guided the program to a 56-14 record and a pair of Big South regular season titles.
Purdue assistant coach Paul Lusk does have some familiarity with Huss, though. The two worked together on Greg McDermott's staff at Creighton for a couple of years. Huss was in Omaha from 2017-23 and Lusk was on staff from 2018-21.
Related stories on Purdue basketball
PAINTER UPDATES LOYER'S STATUS: Purdue coach Matt Painter provided a positive update on junior guard Fletcher Loyer, who suffered an elbow injury in Friday night's game against Michigan. CLICK HERE
DAVIS PICKS HIGH POINT OVER PURDUE: CBS college basketball analyst Seth Davis is already picking No. 13 High Point to upset No. 4 Purdue in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Basketball Tournament. CLICK HERE
PURDUE'S NCAA TOURNAMENT DRAW: Purdue is back in the NCAA Tournament. Here is who the Boilermakers will play, along with date, location and more for the first round of March Madness. CLICK HERE
MORTON RETURNING TO NCAA TOURNEY: Former Purdue wing Ethan Morton is headed back to the NCAA Tournament after Colorado State's win over Boise State in the Mountain West Tournament. CLICK HERE
Dustin Schutte is the publisher of ''Purdue Boilermakers on SI.'' He has more than a decade of experience covering the Big Ten. Follow Dustin on X at @SchutteDustin.