'It Just Doesn't Feel Real': What Purdue Players Said Following the Team's Loss to Saint Peter's
PHILADELPHIA — No. 3 seed Purdue basketball had its season ended at the hands of No. 15 seed Saint Peter's Texas 67-64 in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament on Friday inside the Wells Fargo Center.
Following the loss, seniors Sasha Stefanovic, Eric Hunter Jr. and Trevion Williams met with the media to discuss the game. Here's the full transcript from Friday's postgame press conference:
Q. What specifically do you think they did to Jaden defensively, six turnovers, nine points? Was there something they did differently than other teams have done?
STEFANOVIC: I think they just did a good job of bottling him and trying to force him to make tough passes and tough plays and contested shots. But give them credit, they game planned well and they did a good job.
Q. Eric, why was it so hard to score against them? What were they specifically doing? Were they really taking away?
HUNTER: I think they were physical with us from the jump. They tried to take stuff away and take us out of our actions and just really be aggressive with us on the perimeter.
Q. Trevion, when the game ended, you kind of went to the corner and put your hands on your knees. What were the thoughts at that point?
WILLIAMS: I'm honestly still in shock. It just doesn't feel real. I just wish we could have played a little bit better, like Coach said. Man, you've got to give them their respect. That's a real team. If you don't respect them, you'll be outplayed kind of like we did today.
Man, like I said, I'm still in shock. Obviously we all expected to go further, but just didn't go our way.
Q. Trevion, there was a point there fairly late in the second half where you just kind of took over. Could you describe your mindset at that point and what you thought after you got done? I think you guys were up four after being down four.
WILLIAMS: Man, I immediately thought about North Texas. It was a similar situation. We got down against them, and I remember not being able -- my shots not falling, not being able to contribute the way I wanted to.
Like I said, this was kind of a similar situation, and I just wanted to kind of be patient with myself and understand that every possession matters. It was definitely a similar situation, but I just, like I said, remember how that felt, and I wanted to do anything to help my teammates.
Q. Sasha, on that ending and the finality of it all, can you tell us your thoughts, what was going on in the final few seconds, from there to now?
STEFANOVIC: I mean, honestly like my mind is blank right now. I can't recall exactly what happened. They made plays down the stretch, and we made some fouls, unnecessarily fouls, and it cost us. Credit to them, they made their free throws and executed down the stretch and played good defense.
Q. Sasha, 11 points in the first half, really only took three shots in the second half. Just not getting enough looks or --
STEFANOVIC: I mean, I don't know. I thought I had three good looks in the second half, and I just didn't make them. Those are things you're going to replay in your mind all the time, what if I made a couple more. It is what it is, you know.
Q. I know you mentioned the respect thing when it came to North Texas. Coach yesterday talked about whoever has the most competitive spirit is going to win this game. Did you feel like the respect factor was there and did you feel like the competitive spirit factor was lacking from the beginning?
WILLIAMS: I mean, like I said, I'm still in shock, honestly. I wish we could have came out with a little more energy. I know we talked about respecting that team, and we talked about treating them like the best team in the tournament. I don't think everybody bought into that. They just played harder than us. They made their free throws. They got calls.
Obviously being away -- they're right -- not far from here, so they got a lot of calls their way. But you've just got to be 10 points better. There's a lot of things we could have done differently to kind of prevent that. Like I said, I just wish we would have came in and jumped right on them from the jump.
Q. I know you guys are all feeling pretty dejected right now, but I'm wondering if it makes a difference to go out of the tournament to the Cinderella or if that has an impact at all on how you're feeling.
STEFANOVIC: No, not really. I mean, they're a good team. Like they earned their way to the Elite 8. Cinderella or not, they earned it.
15 seed, who cares. They're good. They're a good team. They can beat anybody. So no, it doesn't really make a difference to be honest. It still sucks.
Stories Related to Purdue Basketball
- WHAT MATT PAINTER SAID: Purdue basketball lost to Saint Peter's 67-64 in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Here's everything coach Matt Painter had to say during the postgame press conference following the loss. CLICK HERE
- SAINT PETER'S RUN CONTINUES: Purdue struggled down the stretch on both ends of the floor and No. 15 seed Saint Peter's made history Friday night, beating the Boilermakers 67-64 in the East Regional semifinals. They are the first No. 15 seed to ever reach the Elite Eight. CLICK HERE
- JADEN IVEY STRUGGLES: Purdue sophomore guard Jaden Ivey scored just nine points in the team's 67-64 loss to Saint Peter's in the Sweet 16. He registered a season-high six turnovers and was 1-6 from the 3-point line. CLICK HERE
- LIVE BLOG: Relive all the play-by-play from Friday night's loss to Saint Peter's as it all played out in real time. CLICK HERE
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D.J. Fezler is a staff writer for BoilermakersCountry.com. Hailing from The Region, he is from Cedar Lake in Northwest Indiana and has spent the last two years covering Purdue football and basketball.