Getty Carsen Edwards and the Purdue Boilermakers will play the Old Dominion Monarchs.
The No. 3 seed Purdue Boilermakers will meet the No. 14 seed Old Dominion Monarchs in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut.
The game is scheduled to start around 9:50 p.m. ET (following the conclusion of Villanova vs Saint Mary’s) and will be televised on TBS. But if you don’t have cable, you can sign up for one of the following cable-free, live-TV streaming services that allow you to watch TBS on your computer, phone or streaming device:
FuboTV
FuboTV
TBS is one of 85-plus live TV channels included in the main FuboTV bundle, which is largely tailored towards sports. Also included are TNT, TruTV and CBS (live in select markets), allowing you to watch every NCAA tournament game.
You can start a free 7-day trial of FuboTV right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the game on your computer via the FuboTV website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast or other supported device via the FuboTV app.
If you can’t watch live, FuboTV comes with 30 hours of cloud DVR space, as well as a 72-hour look-back feature, which allows you to watch the game (and other programs) on-demand within three days of its conclusion, even if you don’t record it.
PlayStation Vue
PlayStation Vue
PS Vue–which doesn’t require an actual PlayStation console to sign up or watch–offers four different live-TV channel packages: All four include TBS. Also included are TNT, TruTV and CBS (live in select markets), allowing you to watch every March Madness game.
You can start a free 5-day trial of PS Vue right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the game on your computer via the PS Vue website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation (3 or 4), or other supported device via the PS Vue app.
If you can’t watch live, PS Vue comes with cloud DVR.
Hulu With Live TV
Hulu
In addition to a Netflix-like on-demand streaming library, Hulu also offers a bundle of 60-plus live TV channels, including TBS. Also included are TNT, TruTV and CBS (live in select markets), meaning you can watch every other NCAA tournament game.
You can sign up for “Hulu with Live TV” right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the game on your computer via the Hulu website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Echo Show, or other streaming device via the Hulu app.
If you can’t watch live, Hulu With Live TV comes with 50 hours of cloud DVR space, as well as the option to upgrade to “Enhanced Cloud DVR,” which gives you 200 hours of space and the ability to fast-forward through commercials.
Purdue vs ODU Preview
The Boilermakers, who’ll be playing in their fifth straight NCAA Tournament, went 16-4 in Big Ten play to share the conference regular season title with Michigan State. They got upset by Minnesota 75-73 in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament.
Last year, Purdue was a No. 2 seed. But they couldn’t overcome the loss of starting center Isaac Haas to a broken elbow, falling in the regional semifinals.
“As a coach, you keep getting opportunities and they don’t have as many,” Purdue head coach Matt Painter said, according to the Journal & Courier. “This is great for (seniors) Ryan Cline and Grady Eifert. They went to four tournaments in four years, but they went to back-to-back Sweet 16s and you want to do better.
“But you all know, it’s very fragile. The NCAA Tournament’s a crap shoot. You play on a neutral court and everybody’s good.”
Junior guard Carsen Edwards leads the team in points (23) and steals (1.4) per game, but he’s been dealing with a sore back. He’s shot 30.1 percent from the field and 21.2 percent from 3-point range over Purdue’s last seven contests.
“I’m just focused on this first game, honestly,” Edwards said, per the Journal & Courier. “I believe in my guys. I believe they’re going to give everything they have and Coach Painter’s going to try to put us in the best position. I’m just focused on the first game and giving everything I have.”
The Monarchs won the Conference USA regular season title with a 13-5 mark in league play, then won three times by six points or fewer in three straight days to take the conference tournament championship.
The school hasn’t been in the NCAA Tournament since 2011, when they went to the second round for a second straight year.
“We’ve had a lot of success but the one threshold we hadn’t crossed was the NCAA Tournament,” sixth-year head coach Jeff Jones said, according to The Virginian-Pilot. “So to be able to do that is certainly fulfilling. But we’re proud of what we’ve done over the last five years. But we don’t want to just have good games, and we don’t want to have just good seasons. We want to be a strong program and be a factor year in and year out.”
Old Dominion senior guard BJ Stith — whose dad Bryant Stith had a 10-year NBA career and serves as an ODU assistant coach — averages 16.9 points and 7.4 rebounds per game, both team highs.
Fellow senior guard Ahmad Caver is second on the team at 16.5 points per game. He leads the Monarchs in assists (5.6) and steals (1.4) per game.