2025-2026 Season
Overall Record: 35-2
Big 12 Record: 16-2 (1st)
KenPom Ranking: 1
NCAA Tournament Performance
Round of 64: 92-58 over #16 LIU
Round of 32:
78 – 66 over #9 Utah StateSweet 16: 109 – 88 over #4 Arkansas
Personnel
Starters
Bench
Key Analytics
(Per KenPom.com – National Rank ())
KenPom Ranking – 1
Offense
Adjusted Efficiency: 128.5 (4)
Adjusted Tempo: 69.9 (54)
Average Possession Length: 16.5 (51)
Effective Field Goal%: 55.2 (36)
Offensive Rebound%: 38.5 (4)
Three Point%: 36.8 (35)
Two Point %: 55.3 (51)
Defense
Adjusted Efficiency: 90.3 (3)
Adjusted Tempo: 69.9 (54)
Average Possession Length: 17 (65)
Effective
Field Goal%: 45 (1)
Offensive Rebound%: 26.6 (26)
Three Point%: 30.9 (31)
Two Point %: 44.2 (2)
Thoughts / Odds and Ends
- Needless to say, but I’ll say it anyway, Arizona is an elite college basketball team.
- Their 2 losses came in back-to-back games in early February to Kansas and Texas Tech.
- Iowa State and Houston came up just short in the Big 12 Tournament.
- The only team to push them in the NCAA tournament was Utah State. The Aggies were in the game with 5-minuts left before Arizona stuck the knife in and pulled away late.
I see these games as a potential blueprint for Purdue
- 11/14/25 – W – 69 – 65 vs UCLA
- 11/19/25 – W – 71 – 67 vs UConn
- 2/9/26 – L – 82 – 78 vs Kansas
- 2/14/26 – L -78 – 75 (OT) vs Texas Tech
- 2/18/26 – W – 75 – 68 vs BYU
- 2/21/26 – W – 73 – 66 vs Houston
- 3/13/26 – W – 82 – 80 vs Iowa State
- 3/13/26 – W – 79 – 74 vs Houston
- 3/22/26 – W – 78 – 74 vs Utah State
Pace of Play is the Key
Slow Pace
2/14/26 – L -78 – 75 (OT) vs Texas Tech
Pace: 64.3
11/14/25 – W – 69 – 65 vs UCLA
Pace: 69.5
3/22/26 – W – 78 – 74 vs Utah State
Pace: 67.4
Fast Pace
3/26/26 – W – 109 – 88 vs Arkansas
Pace: 80.4
12/13/25 – W – 96 -75 vs Alabama
Pace: 77
1/7/26 – W – 101 – 76 vs Kansas State
Pace: 83.8
- Purdue has to drag this team into the deep waters of the 2nd half. Arizona is talented, but they’re young and talented. Purdue’s experience has to win the day.
- In their 2 losses, Kansas (41-36) and Texas Tech (38-37) were competitive on the boards.
- Utah State did everything but compete on the boards (45-23), if Purdue can play like the Aggies but compete on the boards, things could get interesting.
- While Arizona hits 3-pointers at a solid clip (36.8), they don’t shoot many of them (3PA/FGA – 26.4 (363).
- Texas Tech hit 11/33 3-pointers in their win over Arizona, while the Arizona went 4/16)
- Utah State stayed in the game by limiting turnovers (4) and playing aggressive defense (9 steals).
In Conclusion
Arizona is the top-rated team in KenPom for a reason. Purdue won’t be able to stand and swing with Arizona because the Wildcats have heavier hands. The Boilermakers have to slow the pace and counterpunch by pairing Arizona 2-pointers with Purdue 3-pointers. The one thing that gives me hope is Arizona’s relative youth. They start 3 freshmen, and while that hasn’t hindered them, they haven’t played a team with Purdue’s experience. The elderly Boilermakers have to use every trick of the trade they’ve learned along the way to give them a shot down the stretch.
Purdue needs to chop this game up and make it hard for neutral fans to watch. The Wildcats can end games in a hurry when they pick up their defensive pressure, create turnovers, and play in transition. Matt Painter has to find a way to make them walk the ball up the court and play against Purdue’s set defense. Arizona is going to score, but they have to earn every point. When they get easy buckets, they blow teams off the court, and they have the potential to blow Purdue off the court; the Boilermakers aren’t special in that regard.
If Braden Smith is saving up a super legacy game that merits a statue outside of Mackey, this is the time to dial it up. Purdue needs their “Big 3” to all show up, and weirdly enough, Braden has been the missing link in the chain. He played better last night, and his play down the stretch was encouraging, but 16 points and 5 assists aren’t going to get the job done against Arizona. I think you’re going to need to see the 27 and 12 Braden that showed up and showed out against Illinois.
If Illinois Braden shows up and Fletch and TKR continue their current run of form, Purdue has a shot to win this thing at the end.
