NCAA Tournament: Purdue Gets a #2 Seed, Indiana Misses Field
INDIANAPOLIS–The bracket is set for the upcoming NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament also known as March Madness.
After winning the Big Ten Tournament in Chicago on Sunday with an 80-72 victory over the Michigan Wolverines, the Purdue Boilermakers have claimed a #2 seed. They open up against #15 seed Queens in the West Region on Friday March 20.
Purdue is on a four-game winning streak right now, but prior to that winning streak, they had lost four out of six games.
“We have had some struggles defensively. We’ve been really good scoring the basketball. We’ve got a great offense. Today, we were better defensively. We built on it in this tournament. Hopefully it helps us in the NCAA Tournament,” said Purdue Head Coach Matt Painter in an interview with CBS’ Tracy Wolfson after beating Michigan to win the Big Ten Tournament title on Sunday.
Purdue had 21 assists on 30 made field goals. 11 of those assists came from Purdue point guard Braden Smith. He also had 14 points.
“His ability to pass and get the ball where it needs to be really helps us out. But, I’m just so happy for him. He’s worked really hard to be here,” said Painter when talking about Smith to CBS.
The Southeastern Conference led the way in terms of teams placed in the field of 68 with 10 total, four short of its record from last year. The Big Ten followed with nine, the ACC and Big 12 with eight apiece — an unsurprising result in an era of massive conference expansion and NIL compensation drawing top players to the biggest spenders.
The Indiana Hoosier men’s basketball team finished the year with an 18-14 record. They were 17-8, but then lost six of their final seven games. That includes five losses by at least 13 points.
The NCAA Selection Committee said Indiana was the fourth team out of the field. After not making the NCAA Tournament, the Hoosiers announced that they will not be accepting a bid to either the NIT or the Crown Tournament.
Indiana last participated in the NCAA Tournament in 2023.
Also, Miami Ohio went 31-1 on the year. They made the First Four as an #11 seed. They are coached by Travis Steele. Steele graduated from Butler University in 2004. He was born in Danville, Indiana. He was also an assistant coach at Indiana from 2006 to 2008.
NCAA Tournament: Purdue Gets a #2 Seed, Indiana Misses Field was originally published on wibc.com
