Purdue Boilermakers Poised to Make Deep NCAA Tournament Run

Purdue Boilermakers Poised to Make Deep NCAA Tournament Run

Prior to the Big Ten Tournament, Matt Painter was constantly being asked what was going on or what will it take for his team to get back to their preseason expectations.

Turns out, all the team needed was a little bit of motivation like winning a Big Ten Tournament.

The Boilermakers rolled Northwestern, cruised past Nebraska, pulled out a win over UCLA, and dominated Michigan in the second half to claim the 2026 Big Ten Tournament Championship. They have been identified as the team that appears to be getting hot at the right time.

“They were more invested and engaged over the course of the time in Chicago than they maybe had been down the stretch of February. I think they realized they weren’t going to win the regular season because Michigan’s record was just unreachable. Michigan wasn’t going to lose five in a row or whatever it would have taken to get anybody back into the mix. So, I think maybe a little bit of hey, man, we’ve been doing this for four years. We know which games are going to matter and this and these aren’t those, And so maybe it was subconscious, but when they got to this, they realized, if we don’t invest in this, we’re walking out the door having accomplished you know, with the potential of having accomplished nothing, despite being four year starters, four year seniors, some of the great players in Purdue history.” Mike DeCourcy on Query & Company Monday afternoon.

Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer have won two Big Ten Championships, two Big Ten regular season titles, and seven NCAA Tournament games. This season, they have powered Purdue to wins over Alabama, Texas Tech, Wisconsin, Nebraska (twice), and Michigan. Other tournament teams they’ve defeated are Akron, Iowa (twice), and UCLA.

“There’s so many styles of play that Purdue can play because of what Trey Kaufman-Renn can do. And everybody said, well, Fletcher Loyyer’s got to do this, and he’s got to do that, He’s got to be good. He doesn’t have to be great. Braden Smith has to continue to attack, play out of the pick and roll, make the decisions that he makes, and then operate. I think they could go a long long way.” ESPN College Basketball Analyst Tom Crean on Query & Company Monday afternoon.

Purdue’s first game in the NCAA Tournament will be on Friday night against the Queens University Royals at 7:35pm eastern on truTV. If the Boilermakers win, then they will take on the winner of Missouri vs Miami (FL) on Sunday, March 22nd in St. Louis.

To listen to Jake Query’s and conversation with Tom Crean or Mike DeCourcy, download the podcast containing the conversations below! You can always listen to the Query & Company from 12pm-3pm on 93.5/107.5 The Fan. You can also watch and interact with the show by going to the 107.5 The Fan YouTube Channel.