DETROIT — In a sea of black and gold screams, Matt Painter climbed the ladder and held his hand within the air earlier than he snipped the online at Little Caesars Area.
Minutes earlier than Purdue had sealed a contentious 72-66 win over Tennessee within the Elite Eight on Sunday to safe the college’s third journey to the Closing 4, nonetheless, Painter thought concerning the discuss.
A yr in the past, he needed to do it at Nationwide Area in Columbus, Ohio, whereas Fairleigh Dickinson celebrated its victory because the second 16-seed in NCAA match historical past to knock off a 1-seed. Painters’ gamers checked out him with tears of their eyes and puzzled the way it had all fallen aside — and if they may ever put it again collectively once more.
“That speech stinks,” Painter mentioned. “We have all bought them. Just one coach does not get to make use of it.”
But, the Boilermakers by no means fled the shadow solid by that upset loss. As an alternative, they confronted it all through the season, realizing they’d by no means convert the naysayers into believers and not using a deep run within the NCAA match.
They arrived at this level with a win — a victory one Purdue staffer referred to as “cathartic” — after the very best efficiency of senior heart Zach Edey’s storied profession.
Each Edey (40 factors, 16 rebounds in 39 minutes) and Tennessee star Dalton Knecht (37 factors, 6-for-12 from the 3-point line), the 2 front-runners for each main nationwide participant of the yr award, placed on a present Sunday. Edey and Knecht are the third pair of opposing gamers to each have 35-point video games within the Elite Eight or later, per ESPN Stats & Info.
Purdue, which entered the sport as the highest 3-point capturing workforce in America, completed 3-for-15 from past the arc and made 21 of its 33 free throw makes an attempt. Tennessee linked on 42% of its 3-point makes an attempt however simply 39% of its total area aim makes an attempt.
“We knew that is what the sport was going to be,” Edey mentioned. “Once you go up towards a workforce like Tennessee, a win will not be all the time going to be fairly. The one factor that issues is getting the job executed ultimately.”
Nevertheless it was Edey’s effort that swayed the sport in his workforce’s favor. His block on Knecht’s must-have bucket with 34 seconds to play ended any Tennessee comeback hopes. He is the primary participant to have 40 factors and at the very least 15 rebounds within the NCAA match since 1990, per ESPN Stats & Info.
“He is the very best participant in faculty basketball, one of many greats,” mentioned Fletcher Loyer, who completed with 14 factors for Purdue. “He wants extra respect as a result of what he has executed is unreal. I am so happy with him and the work he has put in.”
Earlier than the sport, each Edey and Knecht mentioned a visit to the Closing 4 outdated any discuss who would win the Wood Award and different honors.
Nonetheless, as the sport bought tight within the remaining minutes Sunday — the best way it additionally had within the first assembly between these two groups, a 71-67 win for Purdue within the Maui Invitational in November — each gamers appeared conscious that they’d entered a type of moments that may delivery a legend.
“He is an amazing participant,” Edey mentioned of Knecht. “It was by no means a battle between me and Dalton. It was a battle of Purdue versus Tennessee. We each had been relied on [throughout] the sport. We each confirmed up. We had been capable of get the win.”
As his workforce ready for the rematch, Volunteers coach Rick Barnes and his gamers had been fast to insinuate the officiating had beforehand made it troublesome to corral Edey. Within the first sport, Tennessee had 30 fouls and Purdue had 48 free throw makes an attempt.
Early within the sport Sunday, there may need been some deja vu for the Vols, who drew six fouls within the first seven minutes of the sport — largely as gamers tried to place a physique on Edey.
With eight minutes to play Sunday, Tennessee had 18 fouls and completed with 25 total.
Tennessee stayed within the sport, although. Knecht hit a 3-pointer to tie the sport 56-56 with 7:04 to play.
However Edey’s efforts late — a dunk, key free throws and the late block on Knecht — had been the game-altering feats that tipped the matchup in Purdue’s favor.
After the win, Purdue didn’t need to depart the ground.
The Boilermakers embraced each other, and every hug appeared to last more than the earlier one. Their members of the family and associates scooped confetti from the ground and confirmed it to 1 one other prefer it was a handful of gold.
Amid the celebration, Edey lifted the safety rope across the workforce and walked towards the stands, the place he discovered an indication from a fan that mentioned, “Joyful Edey-Ster,” a play on “Joyful Easter.” The 7-foot-4 star requested for a pen to autograph the signal.
When it was his flip to chop the online, he did not want a ladder. He then handed a chunk of the online to former Purdue coach Gene Keady, who received 512 video games with the Boilermakers and coached Painter when he performed for the workforce from 1989 to 1993.
“You have all the time bought to pay respect to people who got here first,” Edey mentioned. “He constructed this. It does not go over our heads. He helped set this all up. To have the ability to pay him again and provides him a bit piece of the online, it is the least I can do.”
Keady remains to be one among Painter’s mentors. And when Purdue misplaced to Fairleigh Dickinson final yr, the present Purdue head coach referred to as him.
“[I told him] hold your head up, hold working exhausting and he did that,” Keady mentioned. “He is all the time been listener and I am very happy with him.”
As Painter’s workforce made the 3½-hour trek from Columbus, Ohio, to West Lafayette, Indiana, final season following its first-round loss, Painter scribbled six pages of notes on all of the errors that had led to that second.
It is that ingredient of the sport, he mentioned Sunday, individuals do not typically see.
“The entire evolution of a coach beating himself up,” Painter mentioned. “When individuals knock you and say stuff about you, you do not like dwelling with your self at occasions. And that is horrible. It is only a rattling sport. Nevertheless it’s how you’re feeling. It is actually how you’re feeling.”
However Painter has his first Closing 4 look now, and every little thing that transpired final season is a distant reminiscence.
His workforce is perhaps the one remaining squad that has an opportunity to upset UConn. But, he wasn’t in a rush to consider the longer term Sunday.
That is why he held his hand excessive and regarded round Little Caesars Area for an additional second or two whereas he stood atop that ladder after the sport, realizing his workforce’s subsequent flight will likely be to Glendale, Arizona, for the Closing 4.
“You’re feeling quite a lot of totally different individuals coming at you,” Painter mentioned concerning the previous yr for this system. “And you have to be sturdy in your convictions. I believe we had been sturdy in our convictions by way of how we play and the way we do issues. I am simply pleased for our workforce.”
DETROIT — In a sea of black and gold screams, Matt Painter climbed the ladder and held his hand within the air earlier than he snipped the online at Little Caesars Area.
Minutes earlier than Purdue had sealed a contentious 72-66 win over Tennessee within the Elite Eight on Sunday to safe the college’s third journey to the Closing 4, nonetheless, Painter thought concerning the discuss.
A yr in the past, he needed to do it at Nationwide Area in Columbus, Ohio, whereas Fairleigh Dickinson celebrated its victory because the second 16-seed in NCAA match historical past to knock off a 1-seed. Painters’ gamers checked out him with tears of their eyes and puzzled the way it had all fallen aside — and if they may ever put it again collectively once more.
“That speech stinks,” Painter mentioned. “We have all bought them. Just one coach does not get to make use of it.”
But, the Boilermakers by no means fled the shadow solid by that upset loss. As an alternative, they confronted it all through the season, realizing they’d by no means convert the naysayers into believers and not using a deep run within the NCAA match.
They arrived at this level with a win — a victory one Purdue staffer referred to as “cathartic” — after the very best efficiency of senior heart Zach Edey’s storied profession.
Each Edey (40 factors, 16 rebounds in 39 minutes) and Tennessee star Dalton Knecht (37 factors, 6-for-12 from the 3-point line), the 2 front-runners for each main nationwide participant of the yr award, placed on a present Sunday. Edey and Knecht are the third pair of opposing gamers to each have 35-point video games within the Elite Eight or later, per ESPN Stats & Info.
Purdue, which entered the sport as the highest 3-point capturing workforce in America, completed 3-for-15 from past the arc and made 21 of its 33 free throw makes an attempt. Tennessee linked on 42% of its 3-point makes an attempt however simply 39% of its total area aim makes an attempt.
“We knew that is what the sport was going to be,” Edey mentioned. “Once you go up towards a workforce like Tennessee, a win will not be all the time going to be fairly. The one factor that issues is getting the job executed ultimately.”
Nevertheless it was Edey’s effort that swayed the sport in his workforce’s favor. His block on Knecht’s must-have bucket with 34 seconds to play ended any Tennessee comeback hopes. He is the primary participant to have 40 factors and at the very least 15 rebounds within the NCAA match since 1990, per ESPN Stats & Info.
“He is the very best participant in faculty basketball, one of many greats,” mentioned Fletcher Loyer, who completed with 14 factors for Purdue. “He wants extra respect as a result of what he has executed is unreal. I am so happy with him and the work he has put in.”
Earlier than the sport, each Edey and Knecht mentioned a visit to the Closing 4 outdated any discuss who would win the Wood Award and different honors.
Nonetheless, as the sport bought tight within the remaining minutes Sunday — the best way it additionally had within the first assembly between these two groups, a 71-67 win for Purdue within the Maui Invitational in November — each gamers appeared conscious that they’d entered a type of moments that may delivery a legend.
“He is an amazing participant,” Edey mentioned of Knecht. “It was by no means a battle between me and Dalton. It was a battle of Purdue versus Tennessee. We each had been relied on [throughout] the sport. We each confirmed up. We had been capable of get the win.”
As his workforce ready for the rematch, Volunteers coach Rick Barnes and his gamers had been fast to insinuate the officiating had beforehand made it troublesome to corral Edey. Within the first sport, Tennessee had 30 fouls and Purdue had 48 free throw makes an attempt.
Early within the sport Sunday, there may need been some deja vu for the Vols, who drew six fouls within the first seven minutes of the sport — largely as gamers tried to place a physique on Edey.
With eight minutes to play Sunday, Tennessee had 18 fouls and completed with 25 total.
Tennessee stayed within the sport, although. Knecht hit a 3-pointer to tie the sport 56-56 with 7:04 to play.
However Edey’s efforts late — a dunk, key free throws and the late block on Knecht — had been the game-altering feats that tipped the matchup in Purdue’s favor.
After the win, Purdue didn’t need to depart the ground.
The Boilermakers embraced each other, and every hug appeared to last more than the earlier one. Their members of the family and associates scooped confetti from the ground and confirmed it to 1 one other prefer it was a handful of gold.
Amid the celebration, Edey lifted the safety rope across the workforce and walked towards the stands, the place he discovered an indication from a fan that mentioned, “Joyful Edey-Ster,” a play on “Joyful Easter.” The 7-foot-4 star requested for a pen to autograph the signal.
When it was his flip to chop the online, he did not want a ladder. He then handed a chunk of the online to former Purdue coach Gene Keady, who received 512 video games with the Boilermakers and coached Painter when he performed for the workforce from 1989 to 1993.
“You have all the time bought to pay respect to people who got here first,” Edey mentioned. “He constructed this. It does not go over our heads. He helped set this all up. To have the ability to pay him again and provides him a bit piece of the online, it is the least I can do.”
Keady remains to be one among Painter’s mentors. And when Purdue misplaced to Fairleigh Dickinson final yr, the present Purdue head coach referred to as him.
“[I told him] hold your head up, hold working exhausting and he did that,” Keady mentioned. “He is all the time been listener and I am very happy with him.”
As Painter’s workforce made the 3½-hour trek from Columbus, Ohio, to West Lafayette, Indiana, final season following its first-round loss, Painter scribbled six pages of notes on all of the errors that had led to that second.
It is that ingredient of the sport, he mentioned Sunday, individuals do not typically see.
“The entire evolution of a coach beating himself up,” Painter mentioned. “When individuals knock you and say stuff about you, you do not like dwelling with your self at occasions. And that is horrible. It is only a rattling sport. Nevertheless it’s how you’re feeling. It is actually how you’re feeling.”
However Painter has his first Closing 4 look now, and every little thing that transpired final season is a distant reminiscence.
His workforce is perhaps the one remaining squad that has an opportunity to upset UConn. But, he wasn’t in a rush to consider the longer term Sunday.
That is why he held his hand excessive and regarded round Little Caesars Area for an additional second or two whereas he stood atop that ladder after the sport, realizing his workforce’s subsequent flight will likely be to Glendale, Arizona, for the Closing 4.
“You’re feeling quite a lot of totally different individuals coming at you,” Painter mentioned concerning the previous yr for this system. “And you have to be sturdy in your convictions. I believe we had been sturdy in our convictions by way of how we play and the way we do issues. I am simply pleased for our workforce.”
DETROIT — In a sea of black and gold screams, Matt Painter climbed the ladder and held his hand within the air earlier than he snipped the online at Little Caesars Area.
Minutes earlier than Purdue had sealed a contentious 72-66 win over Tennessee within the Elite Eight on Sunday to safe the college’s third journey to the Closing 4, nonetheless, Painter thought concerning the discuss.
A yr in the past, he needed to do it at Nationwide Area in Columbus, Ohio, whereas Fairleigh Dickinson celebrated its victory because the second 16-seed in NCAA match historical past to knock off a 1-seed. Painters’ gamers checked out him with tears of their eyes and puzzled the way it had all fallen aside — and if they may ever put it again collectively once more.
“That speech stinks,” Painter mentioned. “We have all bought them. Just one coach does not get to make use of it.”
But, the Boilermakers by no means fled the shadow solid by that upset loss. As an alternative, they confronted it all through the season, realizing they’d by no means convert the naysayers into believers and not using a deep run within the NCAA match.
They arrived at this level with a win — a victory one Purdue staffer referred to as “cathartic” — after the very best efficiency of senior heart Zach Edey’s storied profession.
Each Edey (40 factors, 16 rebounds in 39 minutes) and Tennessee star Dalton Knecht (37 factors, 6-for-12 from the 3-point line), the 2 front-runners for each main nationwide participant of the yr award, placed on a present Sunday. Edey and Knecht are the third pair of opposing gamers to each have 35-point video games within the Elite Eight or later, per ESPN Stats & Info.
Purdue, which entered the sport as the highest 3-point capturing workforce in America, completed 3-for-15 from past the arc and made 21 of its 33 free throw makes an attempt. Tennessee linked on 42% of its 3-point makes an attempt however simply 39% of its total area aim makes an attempt.
“We knew that is what the sport was going to be,” Edey mentioned. “Once you go up towards a workforce like Tennessee, a win will not be all the time going to be fairly. The one factor that issues is getting the job executed ultimately.”
Nevertheless it was Edey’s effort that swayed the sport in his workforce’s favor. His block on Knecht’s must-have bucket with 34 seconds to play ended any Tennessee comeback hopes. He is the primary participant to have 40 factors and at the very least 15 rebounds within the NCAA match since 1990, per ESPN Stats & Info.
“He is the very best participant in faculty basketball, one of many greats,” mentioned Fletcher Loyer, who completed with 14 factors for Purdue. “He wants extra respect as a result of what he has executed is unreal. I am so happy with him and the work he has put in.”
Earlier than the sport, each Edey and Knecht mentioned a visit to the Closing 4 outdated any discuss who would win the Wood Award and different honors.
Nonetheless, as the sport bought tight within the remaining minutes Sunday — the best way it additionally had within the first assembly between these two groups, a 71-67 win for Purdue within the Maui Invitational in November — each gamers appeared conscious that they’d entered a type of moments that may delivery a legend.
“He is an amazing participant,” Edey mentioned of Knecht. “It was by no means a battle between me and Dalton. It was a battle of Purdue versus Tennessee. We each had been relied on [throughout] the sport. We each confirmed up. We had been capable of get the win.”
As his workforce ready for the rematch, Volunteers coach Rick Barnes and his gamers had been fast to insinuate the officiating had beforehand made it troublesome to corral Edey. Within the first sport, Tennessee had 30 fouls and Purdue had 48 free throw makes an attempt.
Early within the sport Sunday, there may need been some deja vu for the Vols, who drew six fouls within the first seven minutes of the sport — largely as gamers tried to place a physique on Edey.
With eight minutes to play Sunday, Tennessee had 18 fouls and completed with 25 total.
Tennessee stayed within the sport, although. Knecht hit a 3-pointer to tie the sport 56-56 with 7:04 to play.
However Edey’s efforts late — a dunk, key free throws and the late block on Knecht — had been the game-altering feats that tipped the matchup in Purdue’s favor.
After the win, Purdue didn’t need to depart the ground.
The Boilermakers embraced each other, and every hug appeared to last more than the earlier one. Their members of the family and associates scooped confetti from the ground and confirmed it to 1 one other prefer it was a handful of gold.
Amid the celebration, Edey lifted the safety rope across the workforce and walked towards the stands, the place he discovered an indication from a fan that mentioned, “Joyful Edey-Ster,” a play on “Joyful Easter.” The 7-foot-4 star requested for a pen to autograph the signal.
When it was his flip to chop the online, he did not want a ladder. He then handed a chunk of the online to former Purdue coach Gene Keady, who received 512 video games with the Boilermakers and coached Painter when he performed for the workforce from 1989 to 1993.
“You have all the time bought to pay respect to people who got here first,” Edey mentioned. “He constructed this. It does not go over our heads. He helped set this all up. To have the ability to pay him again and provides him a bit piece of the online, it is the least I can do.”
Keady remains to be one among Painter’s mentors. And when Purdue misplaced to Fairleigh Dickinson final yr, the present Purdue head coach referred to as him.
“[I told him] hold your head up, hold working exhausting and he did that,” Keady mentioned. “He is all the time been listener and I am very happy with him.”
As Painter’s workforce made the 3½-hour trek from Columbus, Ohio, to West Lafayette, Indiana, final season following its first-round loss, Painter scribbled six pages of notes on all of the errors that had led to that second.
It is that ingredient of the sport, he mentioned Sunday, individuals do not typically see.
“The entire evolution of a coach beating himself up,” Painter mentioned. “When individuals knock you and say stuff about you, you do not like dwelling with your self at occasions. And that is horrible. It is only a rattling sport. Nevertheless it’s how you’re feeling. It is actually how you’re feeling.”
However Painter has his first Closing 4 look now, and every little thing that transpired final season is a distant reminiscence.
His workforce is perhaps the one remaining squad that has an opportunity to upset UConn. But, he wasn’t in a rush to consider the longer term Sunday.
That is why he held his hand excessive and regarded round Little Caesars Area for an additional second or two whereas he stood atop that ladder after the sport, realizing his workforce’s subsequent flight will likely be to Glendale, Arizona, for the Closing 4.
“You’re feeling quite a lot of totally different individuals coming at you,” Painter mentioned concerning the previous yr for this system. “And you have to be sturdy in your convictions. I believe we had been sturdy in our convictions by way of how we play and the way we do issues. I am simply pleased for our workforce.”
DETROIT — In a sea of black and gold screams, Matt Painter climbed the ladder and held his hand within the air earlier than he snipped the online at Little Caesars Area.
Minutes earlier than Purdue had sealed a contentious 72-66 win over Tennessee within the Elite Eight on Sunday to safe the college’s third journey to the Closing 4, nonetheless, Painter thought concerning the discuss.
A yr in the past, he needed to do it at Nationwide Area in Columbus, Ohio, whereas Fairleigh Dickinson celebrated its victory because the second 16-seed in NCAA match historical past to knock off a 1-seed. Painters’ gamers checked out him with tears of their eyes and puzzled the way it had all fallen aside — and if they may ever put it again collectively once more.
“That speech stinks,” Painter mentioned. “We have all bought them. Just one coach does not get to make use of it.”
But, the Boilermakers by no means fled the shadow solid by that upset loss. As an alternative, they confronted it all through the season, realizing they’d by no means convert the naysayers into believers and not using a deep run within the NCAA match.
They arrived at this level with a win — a victory one Purdue staffer referred to as “cathartic” — after the very best efficiency of senior heart Zach Edey’s storied profession.
Each Edey (40 factors, 16 rebounds in 39 minutes) and Tennessee star Dalton Knecht (37 factors, 6-for-12 from the 3-point line), the 2 front-runners for each main nationwide participant of the yr award, placed on a present Sunday. Edey and Knecht are the third pair of opposing gamers to each have 35-point video games within the Elite Eight or later, per ESPN Stats & Info.
Purdue, which entered the sport as the highest 3-point capturing workforce in America, completed 3-for-15 from past the arc and made 21 of its 33 free throw makes an attempt. Tennessee linked on 42% of its 3-point makes an attempt however simply 39% of its total area aim makes an attempt.
“We knew that is what the sport was going to be,” Edey mentioned. “Once you go up towards a workforce like Tennessee, a win will not be all the time going to be fairly. The one factor that issues is getting the job executed ultimately.”
Nevertheless it was Edey’s effort that swayed the sport in his workforce’s favor. His block on Knecht’s must-have bucket with 34 seconds to play ended any Tennessee comeback hopes. He is the primary participant to have 40 factors and at the very least 15 rebounds within the NCAA match since 1990, per ESPN Stats & Info.
“He is the very best participant in faculty basketball, one of many greats,” mentioned Fletcher Loyer, who completed with 14 factors for Purdue. “He wants extra respect as a result of what he has executed is unreal. I am so happy with him and the work he has put in.”
Earlier than the sport, each Edey and Knecht mentioned a visit to the Closing 4 outdated any discuss who would win the Wood Award and different honors.
Nonetheless, as the sport bought tight within the remaining minutes Sunday — the best way it additionally had within the first assembly between these two groups, a 71-67 win for Purdue within the Maui Invitational in November — each gamers appeared conscious that they’d entered a type of moments that may delivery a legend.
“He is an amazing participant,” Edey mentioned of Knecht. “It was by no means a battle between me and Dalton. It was a battle of Purdue versus Tennessee. We each had been relied on [throughout] the sport. We each confirmed up. We had been capable of get the win.”
As his workforce ready for the rematch, Volunteers coach Rick Barnes and his gamers had been fast to insinuate the officiating had beforehand made it troublesome to corral Edey. Within the first sport, Tennessee had 30 fouls and Purdue had 48 free throw makes an attempt.
Early within the sport Sunday, there may need been some deja vu for the Vols, who drew six fouls within the first seven minutes of the sport — largely as gamers tried to place a physique on Edey.
With eight minutes to play Sunday, Tennessee had 18 fouls and completed with 25 total.
Tennessee stayed within the sport, although. Knecht hit a 3-pointer to tie the sport 56-56 with 7:04 to play.
However Edey’s efforts late — a dunk, key free throws and the late block on Knecht — had been the game-altering feats that tipped the matchup in Purdue’s favor.
After the win, Purdue didn’t need to depart the ground.
The Boilermakers embraced each other, and every hug appeared to last more than the earlier one. Their members of the family and associates scooped confetti from the ground and confirmed it to 1 one other prefer it was a handful of gold.
Amid the celebration, Edey lifted the safety rope across the workforce and walked towards the stands, the place he discovered an indication from a fan that mentioned, “Joyful Edey-Ster,” a play on “Joyful Easter.” The 7-foot-4 star requested for a pen to autograph the signal.
When it was his flip to chop the online, he did not want a ladder. He then handed a chunk of the online to former Purdue coach Gene Keady, who received 512 video games with the Boilermakers and coached Painter when he performed for the workforce from 1989 to 1993.
“You have all the time bought to pay respect to people who got here first,” Edey mentioned. “He constructed this. It does not go over our heads. He helped set this all up. To have the ability to pay him again and provides him a bit piece of the online, it is the least I can do.”
Keady remains to be one among Painter’s mentors. And when Purdue misplaced to Fairleigh Dickinson final yr, the present Purdue head coach referred to as him.
“[I told him] hold your head up, hold working exhausting and he did that,” Keady mentioned. “He is all the time been listener and I am very happy with him.”
As Painter’s workforce made the 3½-hour trek from Columbus, Ohio, to West Lafayette, Indiana, final season following its first-round loss, Painter scribbled six pages of notes on all of the errors that had led to that second.
It is that ingredient of the sport, he mentioned Sunday, individuals do not typically see.
“The entire evolution of a coach beating himself up,” Painter mentioned. “When individuals knock you and say stuff about you, you do not like dwelling with your self at occasions. And that is horrible. It is only a rattling sport. Nevertheless it’s how you’re feeling. It is actually how you’re feeling.”
However Painter has his first Closing 4 look now, and every little thing that transpired final season is a distant reminiscence.
His workforce is perhaps the one remaining squad that has an opportunity to upset UConn. But, he wasn’t in a rush to consider the longer term Sunday.
That is why he held his hand excessive and regarded round Little Caesars Area for an additional second or two whereas he stood atop that ladder after the sport, realizing his workforce’s subsequent flight will likely be to Glendale, Arizona, for the Closing 4.
“You’re feeling quite a lot of totally different individuals coming at you,” Painter mentioned concerning the previous yr for this system. “And you have to be sturdy in your convictions. I believe we had been sturdy in our convictions by way of how we play and the way we do issues. I am simply pleased for our workforce.”
DETROIT — In a sea of black and gold screams, Matt Painter climbed the ladder and held his hand within the air earlier than he snipped the online at Little Caesars Area.
Minutes earlier than Purdue had sealed a contentious 72-66 win over Tennessee within the Elite Eight on Sunday to safe the college’s third journey to the Closing 4, nonetheless, Painter thought concerning the discuss.
A yr in the past, he needed to do it at Nationwide Area in Columbus, Ohio, whereas Fairleigh Dickinson celebrated its victory because the second 16-seed in NCAA match historical past to knock off a 1-seed. Painters’ gamers checked out him with tears of their eyes and puzzled the way it had all fallen aside — and if they may ever put it again collectively once more.
“That speech stinks,” Painter mentioned. “We have all bought them. Just one coach does not get to make use of it.”
But, the Boilermakers by no means fled the shadow solid by that upset loss. As an alternative, they confronted it all through the season, realizing they’d by no means convert the naysayers into believers and not using a deep run within the NCAA match.
They arrived at this level with a win — a victory one Purdue staffer referred to as “cathartic” — after the very best efficiency of senior heart Zach Edey’s storied profession.
Each Edey (40 factors, 16 rebounds in 39 minutes) and Tennessee star Dalton Knecht (37 factors, 6-for-12 from the 3-point line), the 2 front-runners for each main nationwide participant of the yr award, placed on a present Sunday. Edey and Knecht are the third pair of opposing gamers to each have 35-point video games within the Elite Eight or later, per ESPN Stats & Info.
Purdue, which entered the sport as the highest 3-point capturing workforce in America, completed 3-for-15 from past the arc and made 21 of its 33 free throw makes an attempt. Tennessee linked on 42% of its 3-point makes an attempt however simply 39% of its total area aim makes an attempt.
“We knew that is what the sport was going to be,” Edey mentioned. “Once you go up towards a workforce like Tennessee, a win will not be all the time going to be fairly. The one factor that issues is getting the job executed ultimately.”
Nevertheless it was Edey’s effort that swayed the sport in his workforce’s favor. His block on Knecht’s must-have bucket with 34 seconds to play ended any Tennessee comeback hopes. He is the primary participant to have 40 factors and at the very least 15 rebounds within the NCAA match since 1990, per ESPN Stats & Info.
“He is the very best participant in faculty basketball, one of many greats,” mentioned Fletcher Loyer, who completed with 14 factors for Purdue. “He wants extra respect as a result of what he has executed is unreal. I am so happy with him and the work he has put in.”
Earlier than the sport, each Edey and Knecht mentioned a visit to the Closing 4 outdated any discuss who would win the Wood Award and different honors.
Nonetheless, as the sport bought tight within the remaining minutes Sunday — the best way it additionally had within the first assembly between these two groups, a 71-67 win for Purdue within the Maui Invitational in November — each gamers appeared conscious that they’d entered a type of moments that may delivery a legend.
“He is an amazing participant,” Edey mentioned of Knecht. “It was by no means a battle between me and Dalton. It was a battle of Purdue versus Tennessee. We each had been relied on [throughout] the sport. We each confirmed up. We had been capable of get the win.”
As his workforce ready for the rematch, Volunteers coach Rick Barnes and his gamers had been fast to insinuate the officiating had beforehand made it troublesome to corral Edey. Within the first sport, Tennessee had 30 fouls and Purdue had 48 free throw makes an attempt.
Early within the sport Sunday, there may need been some deja vu for the Vols, who drew six fouls within the first seven minutes of the sport — largely as gamers tried to place a physique on Edey.
With eight minutes to play Sunday, Tennessee had 18 fouls and completed with 25 total.
Tennessee stayed within the sport, although. Knecht hit a 3-pointer to tie the sport 56-56 with 7:04 to play.
However Edey’s efforts late — a dunk, key free throws and the late block on Knecht — had been the game-altering feats that tipped the matchup in Purdue’s favor.
After the win, Purdue didn’t need to depart the ground.
The Boilermakers embraced each other, and every hug appeared to last more than the earlier one. Their members of the family and associates scooped confetti from the ground and confirmed it to 1 one other prefer it was a handful of gold.
Amid the celebration, Edey lifted the safety rope across the workforce and walked towards the stands, the place he discovered an indication from a fan that mentioned, “Joyful Edey-Ster,” a play on “Joyful Easter.” The 7-foot-4 star requested for a pen to autograph the signal.
When it was his flip to chop the online, he did not want a ladder. He then handed a chunk of the online to former Purdue coach Gene Keady, who received 512 video games with the Boilermakers and coached Painter when he performed for the workforce from 1989 to 1993.
“You have all the time bought to pay respect to people who got here first,” Edey mentioned. “He constructed this. It does not go over our heads. He helped set this all up. To have the ability to pay him again and provides him a bit piece of the online, it is the least I can do.”
Keady remains to be one among Painter’s mentors. And when Purdue misplaced to Fairleigh Dickinson final yr, the present Purdue head coach referred to as him.
“[I told him] hold your head up, hold working exhausting and he did that,” Keady mentioned. “He is all the time been listener and I am very happy with him.”
As Painter’s workforce made the 3½-hour trek from Columbus, Ohio, to West Lafayette, Indiana, final season following its first-round loss, Painter scribbled six pages of notes on all of the errors that had led to that second.
It is that ingredient of the sport, he mentioned Sunday, individuals do not typically see.
“The entire evolution of a coach beating himself up,” Painter mentioned. “When individuals knock you and say stuff about you, you do not like dwelling with your self at occasions. And that is horrible. It is only a rattling sport. Nevertheless it’s how you’re feeling. It is actually how you’re feeling.”
However Painter has his first Closing 4 look now, and every little thing that transpired final season is a distant reminiscence.
His workforce is perhaps the one remaining squad that has an opportunity to upset UConn. But, he wasn’t in a rush to consider the longer term Sunday.
That is why he held his hand excessive and regarded round Little Caesars Area for an additional second or two whereas he stood atop that ladder after the sport, realizing his workforce’s subsequent flight will likely be to Glendale, Arizona, for the Closing 4.
“You’re feeling quite a lot of totally different individuals coming at you,” Painter mentioned concerning the previous yr for this system. “And you have to be sturdy in your convictions. I believe we had been sturdy in our convictions by way of how we play and the way we do issues. I am simply pleased for our workforce.”
DETROIT — In a sea of black and gold screams, Matt Painter climbed the ladder and held his hand within the air earlier than he snipped the online at Little Caesars Area.
Minutes earlier than Purdue had sealed a contentious 72-66 win over Tennessee within the Elite Eight on Sunday to safe the college’s third journey to the Closing 4, nonetheless, Painter thought concerning the discuss.
A yr in the past, he needed to do it at Nationwide Area in Columbus, Ohio, whereas Fairleigh Dickinson celebrated its victory because the second 16-seed in NCAA match historical past to knock off a 1-seed. Painters’ gamers checked out him with tears of their eyes and puzzled the way it had all fallen aside — and if they may ever put it again collectively once more.
“That speech stinks,” Painter mentioned. “We have all bought them. Just one coach does not get to make use of it.”
But, the Boilermakers by no means fled the shadow solid by that upset loss. As an alternative, they confronted it all through the season, realizing they’d by no means convert the naysayers into believers and not using a deep run within the NCAA match.
They arrived at this level with a win — a victory one Purdue staffer referred to as “cathartic” — after the very best efficiency of senior heart Zach Edey’s storied profession.
Each Edey (40 factors, 16 rebounds in 39 minutes) and Tennessee star Dalton Knecht (37 factors, 6-for-12 from the 3-point line), the 2 front-runners for each main nationwide participant of the yr award, placed on a present Sunday. Edey and Knecht are the third pair of opposing gamers to each have 35-point video games within the Elite Eight or later, per ESPN Stats & Info.
Purdue, which entered the sport as the highest 3-point capturing workforce in America, completed 3-for-15 from past the arc and made 21 of its 33 free throw makes an attempt. Tennessee linked on 42% of its 3-point makes an attempt however simply 39% of its total area aim makes an attempt.
“We knew that is what the sport was going to be,” Edey mentioned. “Once you go up towards a workforce like Tennessee, a win will not be all the time going to be fairly. The one factor that issues is getting the job executed ultimately.”
Nevertheless it was Edey’s effort that swayed the sport in his workforce’s favor. His block on Knecht’s must-have bucket with 34 seconds to play ended any Tennessee comeback hopes. He is the primary participant to have 40 factors and at the very least 15 rebounds within the NCAA match since 1990, per ESPN Stats & Info.
“He is the very best participant in faculty basketball, one of many greats,” mentioned Fletcher Loyer, who completed with 14 factors for Purdue. “He wants extra respect as a result of what he has executed is unreal. I am so happy with him and the work he has put in.”
Earlier than the sport, each Edey and Knecht mentioned a visit to the Closing 4 outdated any discuss who would win the Wood Award and different honors.
Nonetheless, as the sport bought tight within the remaining minutes Sunday — the best way it additionally had within the first assembly between these two groups, a 71-67 win for Purdue within the Maui Invitational in November — each gamers appeared conscious that they’d entered a type of moments that may delivery a legend.
“He is an amazing participant,” Edey mentioned of Knecht. “It was by no means a battle between me and Dalton. It was a battle of Purdue versus Tennessee. We each had been relied on [throughout] the sport. We each confirmed up. We had been capable of get the win.”
As his workforce ready for the rematch, Volunteers coach Rick Barnes and his gamers had been fast to insinuate the officiating had beforehand made it troublesome to corral Edey. Within the first sport, Tennessee had 30 fouls and Purdue had 48 free throw makes an attempt.
Early within the sport Sunday, there may need been some deja vu for the Vols, who drew six fouls within the first seven minutes of the sport — largely as gamers tried to place a physique on Edey.
With eight minutes to play Sunday, Tennessee had 18 fouls and completed with 25 total.
Tennessee stayed within the sport, although. Knecht hit a 3-pointer to tie the sport 56-56 with 7:04 to play.
However Edey’s efforts late — a dunk, key free throws and the late block on Knecht — had been the game-altering feats that tipped the matchup in Purdue’s favor.
After the win, Purdue didn’t need to depart the ground.
The Boilermakers embraced each other, and every hug appeared to last more than the earlier one. Their members of the family and associates scooped confetti from the ground and confirmed it to 1 one other prefer it was a handful of gold.
Amid the celebration, Edey lifted the safety rope across the workforce and walked towards the stands, the place he discovered an indication from a fan that mentioned, “Joyful Edey-Ster,” a play on “Joyful Easter.” The 7-foot-4 star requested for a pen to autograph the signal.
When it was his flip to chop the online, he did not want a ladder. He then handed a chunk of the online to former Purdue coach Gene Keady, who received 512 video games with the Boilermakers and coached Painter when he performed for the workforce from 1989 to 1993.
“You have all the time bought to pay respect to people who got here first,” Edey mentioned. “He constructed this. It does not go over our heads. He helped set this all up. To have the ability to pay him again and provides him a bit piece of the online, it is the least I can do.”
Keady remains to be one among Painter’s mentors. And when Purdue misplaced to Fairleigh Dickinson final yr, the present Purdue head coach referred to as him.
“[I told him] hold your head up, hold working exhausting and he did that,” Keady mentioned. “He is all the time been listener and I am very happy with him.”
As Painter’s workforce made the 3½-hour trek from Columbus, Ohio, to West Lafayette, Indiana, final season following its first-round loss, Painter scribbled six pages of notes on all of the errors that had led to that second.
It is that ingredient of the sport, he mentioned Sunday, individuals do not typically see.
“The entire evolution of a coach beating himself up,” Painter mentioned. “When individuals knock you and say stuff about you, you do not like dwelling with your self at occasions. And that is horrible. It is only a rattling sport. Nevertheless it’s how you’re feeling. It is actually how you’re feeling.”
However Painter has his first Closing 4 look now, and every little thing that transpired final season is a distant reminiscence.
His workforce is perhaps the one remaining squad that has an opportunity to upset UConn. But, he wasn’t in a rush to consider the longer term Sunday.
That is why he held his hand excessive and regarded round Little Caesars Area for an additional second or two whereas he stood atop that ladder after the sport, realizing his workforce’s subsequent flight will likely be to Glendale, Arizona, for the Closing 4.
“You’re feeling quite a lot of totally different individuals coming at you,” Painter mentioned concerning the previous yr for this system. “And you have to be sturdy in your convictions. I believe we had been sturdy in our convictions by way of how we play and the way we do issues. I am simply pleased for our workforce.”
DETROIT — In a sea of black and gold screams, Matt Painter climbed the ladder and held his hand within the air earlier than he snipped the online at Little Caesars Area.
Minutes earlier than Purdue had sealed a contentious 72-66 win over Tennessee within the Elite Eight on Sunday to safe the college’s third journey to the Closing 4, nonetheless, Painter thought concerning the discuss.
A yr in the past, he needed to do it at Nationwide Area in Columbus, Ohio, whereas Fairleigh Dickinson celebrated its victory because the second 16-seed in NCAA match historical past to knock off a 1-seed. Painters’ gamers checked out him with tears of their eyes and puzzled the way it had all fallen aside — and if they may ever put it again collectively once more.
“That speech stinks,” Painter mentioned. “We have all bought them. Just one coach does not get to make use of it.”
But, the Boilermakers by no means fled the shadow solid by that upset loss. As an alternative, they confronted it all through the season, realizing they’d by no means convert the naysayers into believers and not using a deep run within the NCAA match.
They arrived at this level with a win — a victory one Purdue staffer referred to as “cathartic” — after the very best efficiency of senior heart Zach Edey’s storied profession.
Each Edey (40 factors, 16 rebounds in 39 minutes) and Tennessee star Dalton Knecht (37 factors, 6-for-12 from the 3-point line), the 2 front-runners for each main nationwide participant of the yr award, placed on a present Sunday. Edey and Knecht are the third pair of opposing gamers to each have 35-point video games within the Elite Eight or later, per ESPN Stats & Info.
Purdue, which entered the sport as the highest 3-point capturing workforce in America, completed 3-for-15 from past the arc and made 21 of its 33 free throw makes an attempt. Tennessee linked on 42% of its 3-point makes an attempt however simply 39% of its total area aim makes an attempt.
“We knew that is what the sport was going to be,” Edey mentioned. “Once you go up towards a workforce like Tennessee, a win will not be all the time going to be fairly. The one factor that issues is getting the job executed ultimately.”
Nevertheless it was Edey’s effort that swayed the sport in his workforce’s favor. His block on Knecht’s must-have bucket with 34 seconds to play ended any Tennessee comeback hopes. He is the primary participant to have 40 factors and at the very least 15 rebounds within the NCAA match since 1990, per ESPN Stats & Info.
“He is the very best participant in faculty basketball, one of many greats,” mentioned Fletcher Loyer, who completed with 14 factors for Purdue. “He wants extra respect as a result of what he has executed is unreal. I am so happy with him and the work he has put in.”
Earlier than the sport, each Edey and Knecht mentioned a visit to the Closing 4 outdated any discuss who would win the Wood Award and different honors.
Nonetheless, as the sport bought tight within the remaining minutes Sunday — the best way it additionally had within the first assembly between these two groups, a 71-67 win for Purdue within the Maui Invitational in November — each gamers appeared conscious that they’d entered a type of moments that may delivery a legend.
“He is an amazing participant,” Edey mentioned of Knecht. “It was by no means a battle between me and Dalton. It was a battle of Purdue versus Tennessee. We each had been relied on [throughout] the sport. We each confirmed up. We had been capable of get the win.”
As his workforce ready for the rematch, Volunteers coach Rick Barnes and his gamers had been fast to insinuate the officiating had beforehand made it troublesome to corral Edey. Within the first sport, Tennessee had 30 fouls and Purdue had 48 free throw makes an attempt.
Early within the sport Sunday, there may need been some deja vu for the Vols, who drew six fouls within the first seven minutes of the sport — largely as gamers tried to place a physique on Edey.
With eight minutes to play Sunday, Tennessee had 18 fouls and completed with 25 total.
Tennessee stayed within the sport, although. Knecht hit a 3-pointer to tie the sport 56-56 with 7:04 to play.
However Edey’s efforts late — a dunk, key free throws and the late block on Knecht — had been the game-altering feats that tipped the matchup in Purdue’s favor.
After the win, Purdue didn’t need to depart the ground.
The Boilermakers embraced each other, and every hug appeared to last more than the earlier one. Their members of the family and associates scooped confetti from the ground and confirmed it to 1 one other prefer it was a handful of gold.
Amid the celebration, Edey lifted the safety rope across the workforce and walked towards the stands, the place he discovered an indication from a fan that mentioned, “Joyful Edey-Ster,” a play on “Joyful Easter.” The 7-foot-4 star requested for a pen to autograph the signal.
When it was his flip to chop the online, he did not want a ladder. He then handed a chunk of the online to former Purdue coach Gene Keady, who received 512 video games with the Boilermakers and coached Painter when he performed for the workforce from 1989 to 1993.
“You have all the time bought to pay respect to people who got here first,” Edey mentioned. “He constructed this. It does not go over our heads. He helped set this all up. To have the ability to pay him again and provides him a bit piece of the online, it is the least I can do.”
Keady remains to be one among Painter’s mentors. And when Purdue misplaced to Fairleigh Dickinson final yr, the present Purdue head coach referred to as him.
“[I told him] hold your head up, hold working exhausting and he did that,” Keady mentioned. “He is all the time been listener and I am very happy with him.”
As Painter’s workforce made the 3½-hour trek from Columbus, Ohio, to West Lafayette, Indiana, final season following its first-round loss, Painter scribbled six pages of notes on all of the errors that had led to that second.
It is that ingredient of the sport, he mentioned Sunday, individuals do not typically see.
“The entire evolution of a coach beating himself up,” Painter mentioned. “When individuals knock you and say stuff about you, you do not like dwelling with your self at occasions. And that is horrible. It is only a rattling sport. Nevertheless it’s how you’re feeling. It is actually how you’re feeling.”
However Painter has his first Closing 4 look now, and every little thing that transpired final season is a distant reminiscence.
His workforce is perhaps the one remaining squad that has an opportunity to upset UConn. But, he wasn’t in a rush to consider the longer term Sunday.
That is why he held his hand excessive and regarded round Little Caesars Area for an additional second or two whereas he stood atop that ladder after the sport, realizing his workforce’s subsequent flight will likely be to Glendale, Arizona, for the Closing 4.
“You’re feeling quite a lot of totally different individuals coming at you,” Painter mentioned concerning the previous yr for this system. “And you have to be sturdy in your convictions. I believe we had been sturdy in our convictions by way of how we play and the way we do issues. I am simply pleased for our workforce.”
DETROIT — In a sea of black and gold screams, Matt Painter climbed the ladder and held his hand within the air earlier than he snipped the online at Little Caesars Area.
Minutes earlier than Purdue had sealed a contentious 72-66 win over Tennessee within the Elite Eight on Sunday to safe the college’s third journey to the Closing 4, nonetheless, Painter thought concerning the discuss.
A yr in the past, he needed to do it at Nationwide Area in Columbus, Ohio, whereas Fairleigh Dickinson celebrated its victory because the second 16-seed in NCAA match historical past to knock off a 1-seed. Painters’ gamers checked out him with tears of their eyes and puzzled the way it had all fallen aside — and if they may ever put it again collectively once more.
“That speech stinks,” Painter mentioned. “We have all bought them. Just one coach does not get to make use of it.”
But, the Boilermakers by no means fled the shadow solid by that upset loss. As an alternative, they confronted it all through the season, realizing they’d by no means convert the naysayers into believers and not using a deep run within the NCAA match.
They arrived at this level with a win — a victory one Purdue staffer referred to as “cathartic” — after the very best efficiency of senior heart Zach Edey’s storied profession.
Each Edey (40 factors, 16 rebounds in 39 minutes) and Tennessee star Dalton Knecht (37 factors, 6-for-12 from the 3-point line), the 2 front-runners for each main nationwide participant of the yr award, placed on a present Sunday. Edey and Knecht are the third pair of opposing gamers to each have 35-point video games within the Elite Eight or later, per ESPN Stats & Info.
Purdue, which entered the sport as the highest 3-point capturing workforce in America, completed 3-for-15 from past the arc and made 21 of its 33 free throw makes an attempt. Tennessee linked on 42% of its 3-point makes an attempt however simply 39% of its total area aim makes an attempt.
“We knew that is what the sport was going to be,” Edey mentioned. “Once you go up towards a workforce like Tennessee, a win will not be all the time going to be fairly. The one factor that issues is getting the job executed ultimately.”
Nevertheless it was Edey’s effort that swayed the sport in his workforce’s favor. His block on Knecht’s must-have bucket with 34 seconds to play ended any Tennessee comeback hopes. He is the primary participant to have 40 factors and at the very least 15 rebounds within the NCAA match since 1990, per ESPN Stats & Info.
“He is the very best participant in faculty basketball, one of many greats,” mentioned Fletcher Loyer, who completed with 14 factors for Purdue. “He wants extra respect as a result of what he has executed is unreal. I am so happy with him and the work he has put in.”
Earlier than the sport, each Edey and Knecht mentioned a visit to the Closing 4 outdated any discuss who would win the Wood Award and different honors.
Nonetheless, as the sport bought tight within the remaining minutes Sunday — the best way it additionally had within the first assembly between these two groups, a 71-67 win for Purdue within the Maui Invitational in November — each gamers appeared conscious that they’d entered a type of moments that may delivery a legend.
“He is an amazing participant,” Edey mentioned of Knecht. “It was by no means a battle between me and Dalton. It was a battle of Purdue versus Tennessee. We each had been relied on [throughout] the sport. We each confirmed up. We had been capable of get the win.”
As his workforce ready for the rematch, Volunteers coach Rick Barnes and his gamers had been fast to insinuate the officiating had beforehand made it troublesome to corral Edey. Within the first sport, Tennessee had 30 fouls and Purdue had 48 free throw makes an attempt.
Early within the sport Sunday, there may need been some deja vu for the Vols, who drew six fouls within the first seven minutes of the sport — largely as gamers tried to place a physique on Edey.
With eight minutes to play Sunday, Tennessee had 18 fouls and completed with 25 total.
Tennessee stayed within the sport, although. Knecht hit a 3-pointer to tie the sport 56-56 with 7:04 to play.
However Edey’s efforts late — a dunk, key free throws and the late block on Knecht — had been the game-altering feats that tipped the matchup in Purdue’s favor.
After the win, Purdue didn’t need to depart the ground.
The Boilermakers embraced each other, and every hug appeared to last more than the earlier one. Their members of the family and associates scooped confetti from the ground and confirmed it to 1 one other prefer it was a handful of gold.
Amid the celebration, Edey lifted the safety rope across the workforce and walked towards the stands, the place he discovered an indication from a fan that mentioned, “Joyful Edey-Ster,” a play on “Joyful Easter.” The 7-foot-4 star requested for a pen to autograph the signal.
When it was his flip to chop the online, he did not want a ladder. He then handed a chunk of the online to former Purdue coach Gene Keady, who received 512 video games with the Boilermakers and coached Painter when he performed for the workforce from 1989 to 1993.
“You have all the time bought to pay respect to people who got here first,” Edey mentioned. “He constructed this. It does not go over our heads. He helped set this all up. To have the ability to pay him again and provides him a bit piece of the online, it is the least I can do.”
Keady remains to be one among Painter’s mentors. And when Purdue misplaced to Fairleigh Dickinson final yr, the present Purdue head coach referred to as him.
“[I told him] hold your head up, hold working exhausting and he did that,” Keady mentioned. “He is all the time been listener and I am very happy with him.”
As Painter’s workforce made the 3½-hour trek from Columbus, Ohio, to West Lafayette, Indiana, final season following its first-round loss, Painter scribbled six pages of notes on all of the errors that had led to that second.
It is that ingredient of the sport, he mentioned Sunday, individuals do not typically see.
“The entire evolution of a coach beating himself up,” Painter mentioned. “When individuals knock you and say stuff about you, you do not like dwelling with your self at occasions. And that is horrible. It is only a rattling sport. Nevertheless it’s how you’re feeling. It is actually how you’re feeling.”
However Painter has his first Closing 4 look now, and every little thing that transpired final season is a distant reminiscence.
His workforce is perhaps the one remaining squad that has an opportunity to upset UConn. But, he wasn’t in a rush to consider the longer term Sunday.
That is why he held his hand excessive and regarded round Little Caesars Area for an additional second or two whereas he stood atop that ladder after the sport, realizing his workforce’s subsequent flight will likely be to Glendale, Arizona, for the Closing 4.
“You’re feeling quite a lot of totally different individuals coming at you,” Painter mentioned concerning the previous yr for this system. “And you have to be sturdy in your convictions. I believe we had been sturdy in our convictions by way of how we play and the way we do issues. I am simply pleased for our workforce.”