Purdue Notebook: Ivey ready to help teammates make plays

Mar. 25—PHILADELPHIA — Jaden Ivey's used to being the object of opposing defense's attention.

The Purdue All-American leads the team with 17.6 points per game, and he's made himself more dangerous from the perimeter, shooting 36.4% from 3-point range.

He's widely viewed as a lottery pick in June's NBA draft, and it's a good bet Saint Peter's game plan will include plenty of concepts meant to slow him down in the Sweet 16 on Friday night at Wells Fargo Center.

Texas had a similar approach in the second round, but Ivey still broke free for 18 points and a pair of 3-pointers that helped clinch the 81-71 win down the stretch.

But he might have been most proud of his three assists and the three teammates who joined him in double-figure scoring.

"I feel like the Texas game, their game plan was to get me out of rhythm early," Ivey said before Thursday's practice. "I feel like my teammates stepped up big. And when I got the ball, I tried to make plays for my teammates because I knew Texas was going to be heavy on stopping me and trying to limit my paint touches.

"I feel like my teammates stepped up, and I'm just going to keep going to that, utilizing my teammates and getting them involved early so we can withstand the game and try to get a win."

Purdue (29-7) is the 12th-highest scoring team in the nation at 79.8 points per game and ranks second in offensive efficiency — behind only No. 1 overall seed Gonzaga, which was upset Thursday night by No. 4 seed Arkansas — according to Ken Pomeroy's respected formula.

But the Peacocks (21-11) haven't backed down from any challenge in becoming just the third No. 15 seed to reach the Sweet 16, and they don't plan to start now.

"I don't think you should go into any game being intimidated by anybody," Saint Peter's forward KC Ndefo said. "As a person yourself, I don't think you should be intimidated by anything. We're just trying to execute the game plan, go into it with the same mindset of beating these guys and just taking it one step at a time — just focusing on the scout, focusing on practice and then going into the game (Friday) and executing the game plan."

TOUGH ENOUGH

Responding to a question from a reporter, Saint Peter's coach Shaheen Holloway made reference to his team's East Coast toughness after the second-round win over Murray State.

"I'm going to say this. It's going to come off a little crazy," Holloway said. "I got guys from New Jersey and New York City. You think we're scared of anything? You think we're worried about guys trying to muscle us and tough us out? We do that. That's who we are."

The quote has become a rallying cry for the program and seems to encapsulate the team's surprising postseason run.

Painter didn't dispute the characterization.

"Saint Peter's has got a great competitive spirit about them, and that's what you need," he said. "That's what you need to win games. Obviously, they're talented, and that's what we have to be able to do. You have to be able to play harder and play smarter than your opponent.

"I know that's a little hokey, but it's true, and I think that's going to be the challenge for both teams."

SWEET SUCCESS

Both Ivey and his mother, Niele — the women's coach at Notre Dame — will play in the Sweet 16 this weekend about 150 miles apart.

Purdue plays Friday in Philadelphia, and the fifth-seeded Fighting Irish are scheduled to practice early in the afternoon in Bridgeport, Connecticut, ahead of their Saturday game against No. 1 seed North Carolina State.

So Coach Ivey plans to make the relatively short drive south to watch her son play in person for the first time in this NCAA Tournament run.

It's a unique family dynamic that appears to be worry free.

"I've put a lot of work in to get here, to be on a great team like this, and I'm not nervous," Jaden Ivey said. "My mom has been in the same situation. She's been in a lot of tournament games where she's lost, and she's won a tournament game. She's won a national championship (as a player and a coach). I don't think she's nervous at all, either."