My Two Cents: Purdue's Extensive Sweet 16 Experience Helps Between Games, Too

It's one thing to have enough postseason experience to get through the tense NCAA games, but it's another thing to bridge the first week from the second and continue to get better. For Purdue's seniors, they've learned the routine, which should help on Friday night against Saint Peter's.

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — Purdue has been to four Sweet 16s in the past five NCAA Tournaments, which is a rare fete. Only Gonzaga and Michigan have been to more,

All of that experience helps on game days, and Purdue's seniors know that all too well. Trevion Williams, for example, has already played in seven NCAA Tournament games in four years. And fellow seniors Eric Hunter Jr. and Sasha Stefanovic have been along for the whole ride, too.

But what helps ever more is handling the catch-your-breath down time from the first week to the second. The high intensity — and high anxiety — of the first week of the tournament can be mind-blowing. It takes time to wind down, and then takes time to get ramped up again.

It's a balancing act, both mentally and physically. You live and learn, and Purdue coach Matt Painter knows that all too well. 

"What I've really gotten to after the Big Ten Tournament and after our two games (in the NCAAs) is to make sure I spend the next day watching us,'' Painter said Thursday when he met with the media prior to Friday night's East Regional semifinal against Saint Peter's.

"Everybody is like, 'get ready for your next opponent' because they're all good opponents. But the most important team in the tournament is your team.''

Painter knows all too well that when his Boilermakers shoot the ball well and keep turnovers down that they are practically unbeatable. So he likes the idea of working on themselves first before getting to the opponent.

"Just locking into making sure that we're not making the same mistakes or magnifying the good things that we're doing and really being encouraging to our guys like we're doing some really good things here. That's important,'' he said "But it gets lost in winning. You're making mistakes when you win, and you're doing some really, really good things when you lose. So just trying to have that balance and understand your team, then really diving into your opponent and seeing where you can have some advantages with it, that's what matters.'' 

Williams, the 6-foot-10 senior center, knows the value of melding the first week to the second, with rest and recharging being critical elements in the five days between games. 

"There's been a lot of positivity within our locker room,'' Williams said. "When we go back home, we watch a lot of film, we get off our feet, we get a lot of shots up, and we've been kind of just keeping that same routine. Coach has been taking bits and pieces out of the games we've played, and he looks at the good, he looks at the bad, and we just kind of move forward from there.

"Everything is pretty straightforward. It's all about staying positive and who can play well together at this time of year.''

Purdue is in a unique position here in Philadelphia, getting the No. 15 seed Saint Peter's in the regional semifinals. A 15 seed has won a game in the NCAA Tournament only 10 teams, and only two have ever advanced to the second week. Both teams lost in the semifinals (Full No. 15 seed history, CLICK HERE)

But that's why Purdue has done a nice job of staying focused and locked in all week. The whole Cinderella story is being told about Saint Peter's, and the Boilers are something of a silent observer to the story line.

When it comes to next man up, that next man in Saint Peter's. There's no looking past anyone.

"I think our mindset going into this tournament — or just coming into Philly — was just treating every team like they're the best team in the tournament,'' said Williams, who's well aware that the Peacocks have beaten No. 2 seed Kentucky and No. 7 seed Murray State. "They're here for a reason, and you've got to respect them. If you just look at what we've been through as a team, we lost in the first round to (No. 13 seed) North Texas (last year) and nobody expected that. But I don't think we respected them. I don't think we were as ready as we thought we were.

"We're kind of in a similar situation where people look at the matchup and like, oh, Purdue is supposed to win, but in reality you can be beat on any given night. It's all about respecting them. It's also about having fun, and just taking care of the basketball.''

History for these Purdue seniors is that first-round loss a year ago, a wiped out COVID postseason and that Elite Eight run in 2019 as freshmen that came a split second away from a Final Four visit.

That's a lot of lessons learned.

"It was obviously a pleasure to go through that my freshman year,'' Williams said. "You don't walk in as a freshman and think you're going to go that far or you don't think how you contribute is going to play a part in how far we go. You just kind of have to be ready and know when your number was called.

Like I say, you have so much coming at you as a freshman. I didn't expect for us to be so successful, but just looking back on it and being in the position now, I'm just happy to be here. I kind of know what to expect. These guys — (Purdue's younger players) — have been through it, losing in the first round. Everybody has their own piece of how it feels to win and lose, and I think now we're at the point where we're just kind of like putting it together.''

Williams remembers the pain of last year's first-round loss, because they liked their draw were confident they could make a run in the COVID-bubble tourney in Indiana.

"It's just a tough thing to deal with, but you look at the past couple years and you've slipped up, you've came short, whether it's you've lost in the first round or something off the court,'' he said. "Just looking at the position we've been put in multiple times, we just can't let it slip away. We've always been right there, we've just got to get it.''

Painter appreciates all that this group of seniors has given him, and he doesn't want this season to end too early for them, either.

"I think we have a lot of experience. Our three seniors played in an Elite 8 game and came three-tenths of a second from going to a Final Four when they were freshmen,'' Painter said. "Trevion Williams was first-team All League last year and was Sixth Man of the Year this year so he's made a lot of sacrifices to help our team win.

"Eric Hunter didn't start the first half of the season and now he has started here. They've had true tests of their character, and are you really wanting to do what's best for the team, and they have proven that. Sasha Stefanovic had no high major offers. I told him if he comes he's going to have to redshirt. He wanted to be at Purdue, and those guys have proven that they've wanted to stay at Purdue. I always say everybody has a reason to leave, but if you stay and you fight, the rewards are going to be a lot higher if there's nothing wrong, and there's nothing wrong with adversity. And these guys have handled adversity and they've pushed through, and that's why they'll be successful. Whether we win or lose our next game or not, these guys are going to be successful, get their degrees at Purdue, and just happy for them. They've done a great job for our program.''