Milwaukee, Wis—A deep three by Jaden Ivey with 1:01 remaining helped the No. 3-seed Purdue Boilermakers (29-7) move past the No. 6-seed Texas Longhorns (22-12) won Sunday night in Milwaukee, 81-71, in a physical-fought NCAA Tournament contest.
Ivey had to hear from Courtney Ramey all night as Texas’ tenacious, chirping guard followed the future lottery pick up and down the hardwood.
“All game he was chirping, just trying to get me out of rhythm,” Ivey said. “I just stayed poised the whole game. That’s what it comes down to. People are going to try to get you out of rhythm and try to talk to you. You’ve just got to stay focused on the main goal, and I felt like I did that.”
Chris Beard had won each of his two previous NCAA Tournament matchups with coach Matt Painter’s Boilermakers, who had better seeding each time. Beard’s Little Rock team knocked off Purdue in the first round in 2016, and he led Texas Tech past the Boilermakers in a 2018 regional semifinal.
Purdue took a 28-14 lead after going on a 20-0 run as the Longhorns went scoreless for a stretch of 9:44. But Texas rallied to take the lead with just under 16 minutes left, and the game went back and forth from there.
Ivey didn’t score in the first 16 minutes of the contest and didn’t have a single basket in the first half. The tenacious guard kept working and finished with 18 points to make sure Purdue went dancing in the Sweet 16.
“Ramey’s one of the best defenders in the country,” Beard said. “Ivey’s obviously a special player. We held him to four made field goals tonight. He got loose from us a few times. And give him all the credit. He’s one of the quickest, fastest players that I’ve ever seen on tape and he was just as fast in person.”
With 9:32 remaining, the game was knotted at 52. Purdue responded going on a quick 7-0 run thanks to a trey by Eric Hunter Jr. and two baskets by Williams. Texas never got closer than three points for the rest of the contest.
The Boilermakers was hanging on to a 74-71 lead when Ivey made a move to be one-on-one with Ramey before sinking a 3-pointer with 1:01 remaining on the clock. That shot ignited a 7-0 run to essentially end the game.
Marcus Carr led sixth-seeded Longhorns with 23 points and Andrew Jones chipped in 17.
Purdue made the most of its size advantage and capitalized on a major disparity at the charity stripe line. Purdue had 46 attempts, making 33, while Texas went 7 of 12 on free throws.
Trevion Williams scored 22 points to lead the Boilermakers, who capitalized on a major disparity at the free-throw line to reach the Sweet 16. Purdue had 46 attempts, making 33, while the Longhorns went 7 of 12 on free throws.
Timmy Allen, Texas’ leading scorer at 12.3 points per game, scored two points in 18 minutes before fouling out with 6:25 left in the contest. Christian Bishop also fouled out for the Longhorns after getting 10 points and seven boards.
“Really the differential in the game, you guys know this, the free throws,” Beard said. “I’ve got to be careful what I say. 46-12, there hasn’t been a lot of games in the NCAA Tournament like that.”
BIG PICTURE
Texas: The Longhorns showed in Beard’s first year that things are changing in Austin. Their first -round victory over the Hokies was their first NCAA Tournament win since 2014. “This culture’s strong, the coaching staff is strong, and players just got to come along with it and trust it,” Jones said.
Purdue: The Boilermakers have won each of the last 31 games they’ve led at break, continuing a streak that began last season. They’ve outrebounded their first two NCAA Tournament foes 83-61 and have outscored them 60-13 from the foul line.
UP NEXT:
Purdue is two wins away from its first Final Four berth since 1980.
