Could Purdue’s Matt Painter make his first-ever Final Four appearance?
DETROIT (WISH) — The No. 1 seed Purdue Boilermakers will take on fifth-seeded Gonzaga on Friday night for a chance to advance to the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight.
In 19 years as the head coach of the Boilermakers, Matt Painter has only seen one Elite Eight appearance and has yet to make a trip to the Final Four.
This year, the Boilers are primed to make history with a deep run in the tournament.
With Purdue’s Sweet 16-clinching win over Utah State on Sunday, the team recorded its program record-31st victory this season, but the top-seeded Boilermakers have no interest in stopping there.
Last Friday, Purdue exorcized its demons from last year’s opening-round loss by defeating Grambling State 78-50 in Indianapolis.
The Boilermakers then followed their Round of 64 victory with the program’s highest-scoring game in tournament history, beating Utah State 106-67 on Sunday.
Painter acknowledged postgame that this team’s offense could give it a shot at a deep playoff run.
“You’ve got to be able to score,” Painter said following Purdue’s 106-point performance against Utah State on Sunday. “When we went to the Elite Eight and had to play Virginia, Carsen Edwards went crazy and made shots, but the game before that, we scored 99 points. We scored over 100 today. You have to be able to score the basketball.”
Painter continued, emphasizing that the team’s defense can win games as much as the offense can.
“There are some games where the ball is not going to go in,” Painter said. “And if it can’t go in, then you have to be able to grind it and guard and get rebounds and take care of the ball.”
Zach Edey, likely to be named the back-to-back National Player of the Year, recorded a team-high 23 points and 14 rebounds in the contest, off to one of the greatest starts in tournament history.
With Edey firing on all cylinders and the rest of the roster performing well behind the 7-4 center, could this be the year that Matt Painter makes his first-ever Final Four appearance?
This year, the Purdue coach made his 15th NCAA Tournament berth since taking over for Gene Keady in 2005, but the Boilermakers have seen four first-round exits, four second-round exits, six trips to the Sweet Sixteen, and just one Elite Eight appearance under Painter.
The path to the Final Four for the Black and Gold certainly feels attainable this year.
That path starts on Friday night when the Boilermakers take on Gonzaga in Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
The Boilers beat the Bulldogs by 10 points in November at the Maui Invitational in Honolulu.
Just 24 hours later, it was Tennessee that the Boilermakers defeated in the same tournament. Purdue would see the No. 2 seed Volunteers in the Elite Eight if both teams were to win in Detroit on Friday night.
After the 4-point win over Tennessee in November, Painter’s team defeated Marquette by 3 points to claim the Maui Invitational Title.
Purdue would see the No. 2 seed Golden Eagles in the Final Four if both teams were to win their next two games.
In a year when Purdue dominated its non-conference schedule, rolled through the Big Ten slate, and bullied its first two NCAA Tournament opponents, this seems like Painter’s best chance to add a Final Four berth to his impressive career resume.
The quest continues at 7:40 p.m. EST Friday when the Boilermakers tip off against Gonzaga.
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