Friday night, the Boilermakers watched the Red Raiders of Texas Tech end their season in heartbreaking fashion as Purdue yet again saw their year come to a disappointing conclusion, this time in the Sweet 16. Under Matt Painter Purdue is 0-4 in Sweet 16 games; Last year it came in a blowout to Kansas (98-66), in 2010 they lost to Duke (70-57), and back in 2009 they lost to UCONN (72-60.) As a fan, you start to catch the feeling that the Boilermakers just can’t make it over this hump.
Now, it doesn’t help that they have the softest 7 foot giants in college basketball in Isaac Haas and Matt Haarms, but we’re at the big boy table and there shouldn’t be any excuses. Time and time again they either seem to be out coached, or the talent disparity is simply just too large of a gap. Though Purdue did set a new school record for wins in a season at 30, the postseason just seems to give them nightmares.
One of the more consistent standouts this season for Purdue though has been Carsen Edwards, and boy did he save one of his best performances for last dropping a 30 piece on one of the best defenses in the country. Here is just a quick glimpse of what every Purdue fan saw with his performance.
What it’s like to watch Purdue Basketball: pic.twitter.com/6XOMz38ZG3
— The Black Sheep Purdue (@BlackSheep_PU) March 24, 2018
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For Purdue, they have next year to look forward to, with the loss of Isaac Haas, Dakota Mathias, P.J. Thompson, and Vincent Edwards. We’ll see how they fare next season.