My Two Cents: Once Again, Purdue Tangles With Fearless Mid-Major in McNeese
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Purdue got through the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday by dispatching a pesky and confident High Point team that hadn't lost in 63 days. They were a mid-major brimming with bravado, and it took the Boilermakers' best effort to get a win.
They get more of the same on Saturday in the second-round here in Providence, taking on a McNeese team that's on swagger overload after upsetting Clemson on Thursday. That was just a cherry on top, really, because they're a team that's on constant swagger overload.
All they know is winning, too. Since losing to No. 25 Mississippi State on Dec. 14, the Cowboys are 23-1. They have turned a shaky 5-5 ''getting to know each other'' kind of start into three months of winning.
They win, period. And they don't know any different. They respect Purdue, but they don't fear them.
Not one bit.
"We've had this goal in mind since the summer, and we are mentally and physically prepared,'' McNeese guard Brandon Murray said. "We got tested early — (they played No. 2 Alabama and Mississippi State) — and that paid off for us against Clemson. It can be the same on Saturday with Purdue. It's just another opponent.
"It was a good emotion win for us, but we know that's not the main goal, so we're right back to it.''
This is Will Wade's second year at McNeese, and he's revitalized his career with some nice transfer portal pickups. They went 30-3 last year and were a 12 seed in the NCAA Tournament, but got overwhelmed by No. 5 Gonzaga 86-65. They were never in it, falling behind by as much as 24 points in the first half.
They added a few pieces in the summer, and when they all got together in Lake Charles, they vowed to make this season different. And they have.
McNeese is 28-6 and finished with a 17-1 league record in the Southland Conference, taking the crown by five games. They cruised through the Southland tournament as well, beating Northwestern State by 19 and Lamar by nine.
Beating Clemson was the school's first-ever NCAA Tournament win. It was also their only win ever over a top-25 team. One down, and now comes Purdue just 48 hours later. The quick turnaround is no big deal to McNeese though, because they play a Saturday-Monday league schedule for two-plus months.
So flipping the switch from Clemson to Purdue is a no-brainer.
"For the last couple of months, that's all we've been doing because our conference schedule is set up that way,'' Murray said of the conference schedule. "So that's perfect for us this week, because we're used to it. ''
The Cowboys have bought into an aggressive style of play, where they get after people defensively and attack the rim as much as they can. Being an experienced team, they handle the ebbs and flows of a game well. They know everyone makes runs, and they do their best to survive them and move forward.
"We do a good job on never getting too high or getting too low,'' McNeese point guard Quadir Copeland said. "We just held a top-25 team to 13 points in the first half. We knew they'd score at some point, and we practice this all the time. We did a good job of staying together, and it worked out for us.
''We're's prepared, and we've had some moments in the bright lights. Having that, they're a little dimmer now.''
Purdue coach Matt Painter knows all about dealing with pesky mid-majors during his NCAA Tournament career, losing to double-digits seeds five times. Only former Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim (6) has lost more.
He had a lot of respect for High Point, and that hasn't changed one bit in preparing for McNeese. They are a good team, especially defensively, and Painter knows it.
"McNeese gives a lot of effort. They play very, very hard,'' Painter said Friday. "They get a lot of deflections and a lot of steals. You just have to do a good job of taking care of the basketball. When you drive, you have to drive to space. If you're going to drive to where bodies are, they're going to take the body from you.
"You see those coaches who do a better job than others just because they have that discipline and get them to buy into their system. That's what (Wade) has been able to do here. You see total buy-in and they have that confidence, that swagger about them where they believe in each other and believe they can go out there and when.
"Why shouldn't you? Like (High Point), you win your league, win your tournament, 14 straight games, you should be confident. Well, these guys have the same resume. They've won 10 straight, but they've had the same amount of wins. They're going to feel that way, so you just have to be able to play to your strengths and understand the difficulty that they cause people.''
There's no question that Purdue will get McNeese's best effort on Saturday, the first of eight second-round games. (Tip-time is at 12:10 ET on CBS). They'll need a best effort of their own, and if they do, they'll head back home for next week's Midwest Regional at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Related stories on Purdue-McNeese
- HOW TO WATCH: No. 4 seed Purdue will play No. 12 seed McNeese with a trip to the Sweet 16 at stake. Television and radio information, top players, key stats and more. CLICK HERE
- WHAT HEIDE, COLVIN SAID: Purdue wings Cam Heide and Myles Colvin met with reporters ahead of Saturday's matchup vs. McNeese. Here's what the two had to say about the game and more. CLICK HERE
- WHAT MATT PAINTER SAID: Purdue will play McNeese State on Saturday with a trip to the Sweet 16 at stake. Here's everything Matt Painter said before the second round March Madness game. CLICK HERE
- BERG'S PROFESSIONAL APPROACH: Will Berg hasn't played much throughout the season, but when his number was called against High Point on Thursday, the sophomore center delivered in a big way.CLICK HERE
- TOM BREW COLUMN: The Twitter trolls, Facebook swill and even many of my college basketball colleagues are ripping McNeese coach Will Wade for switching jobs so publicly during the NCAA Tournament. But I have no problems with it — because his players say it's been the plan all along. CLICK HERE
Tom Brew is an award-winning journalist who's worked at some America's finest newspapers, including the Tampa Bay (Fla.) Times, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and the Indianapolis Star. He also owns the book publishing company, Hilltop30 Publishing Group, and he has written four books and published 16 others.