‘Wish I had an answer’ | Purdue basketball can no longer defend its postseason woes

COLUMBUS, Ohio − There’s a hole in the dry erase board.

Right there, smack dab in the center of Purdue’s locker room, the one coach Matt Painter uses to draw up a game plan.

Whatever game plan was up there, it didn’t work, so someone punched a hole right through it.

Whatever was written on it had been removed before media was allowed in Purdue’s locker room Friday, but surely it didn’t say to throw up so many bricks from 3-point range you’d have thought Purdue’s basketball team was helping with Ross-Ade Stadium renovations.

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It didn’t say to turn the ball over “15, 16, 17 times.”

Brandon Newman lost count (it was 16), but when you start getting that high, it doesn’t matter.

That’s what happened, though.

And it keeps happening, this time of year, to Purdue and its head basketball coach Matt Painter.

Purdue Boilermakers guard Ethan Morton (25) bites down on his jersey during the NCAA MenÕs Basketball Tournament game against the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights, Friday, March 17, 2023, at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Fairleigh Dickinson Knights won 63-58.

But why?

Why is Purdue, with one of its best seasons in program history, the laughingstock of college basketball today after a historic 63-58 loss to FDU, a team that has no height, bad defense and only got into the NCAA tournament because Merrimack, the Northeast Conference tournament champion, is ineligible during a transition period from Division II?

Why are the Boilermakers continuously getting bounced from the NCAA tournament by less talented teams?

That’s a complex question.

“For me, it’s disappointing. Just as a guy that has been here three years, it’s great to get to the tournament three times, but to have two first-round losses to double-digit seeds and then to lose to a double-digit seed in the Sweet 16 last year, it’s hard to process,” junior guard Ethan Morton said. “You look for whatever answers you can. I wish there was a magic pill out there or a magic something we could take or look at and say this is what would solve the problem of us not being able to beat those teams. I wish I had an answer.”

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It also was Morton who two weeks ago after a game in Mackey Arena said Painter deserves to get to a Final Four more than anyone “in the world.”

Morton also said that night Painter’s had a remarkable run of bad luck when it comes to the NCAA tournament.

He’s not wrong.

Purdue Boilermakers head coach Matt Painter walks off the court after the NCAA MenÕs Basketball Tournament game, Friday against the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights, March 17, 2023, at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Fairleigh Dickinson Knights won 63-58.

Robbie Hummel’s ACL (twice). Isaac Haas’ elbow. Virginia in 2019. This team was as healthy as you could hope for this time of year, save Mason Gillis playing through back aches.

The Boilermakers have had a No. 16 seed now beat them in the opening round, a No. 15 seed beat them in the Sweet 16 and a No. 13 seed beat them in an opening-round game at a nearly empty building.

That’s the last three years.

Then there’s Josh Hagins. Remember him?

If not, here’s a reminder.

Hagins plays pro basketball in Greece now, but in 2016, while averaging just 11 points a game, he torched Purdue for 31 to lead 12th-seeded Arkansas-Little Rock to an opening-round win against the Boilermakers.

Painter has 14 NCAA tournament losses with Purdue (and one while coaching Southern Illinois).

The first six of those, fans could live with, even in 2011 (the second time Hummel tore his ACL) to No. 11 seed VCU, which would coin the phrase “first four to Final Four” after its improbable run.

During Painter’s first six NCAA tournaments with the Boilermakers, Purdue was knocked out by a Final Four team all but one time. That was in 2008 to Xavier, which lost in the Elite Eight. Otherwise, the Boilers ended their season to two national champions, a runner-up and two teams that lost in the Final Four.

Since, Purdue has lost just once to a team that went to the Final Four − Virginia in 2019, the eventual national champion. We don’t even need to rehash that story because it had been the lowest moment for Purdue fans in decades.

Until Friday night.

“Don’t ever forget it. It stings,” Newman said afterwards. “It’s going to sting for a long time. Can’t forget it. We’ll never forget it for the rest of our lives.”

And now Virginia, yes the Virginia that beat Purdue in the 2019 Elite Eight, has company.

In 2018, the Cavaliers became the first, and until Friday only, No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16.

The next season, they won the whole thing.

Painter, though, isn’t concerned in comparing.

His team was better than the one it lost to Friday. But it wasn’t better for the 40 minutes it had to be.

And Purdue’s head coach, fully aware of the reputation he’s got as a guy who wins in the regular season, but not in the NCAA tournament, was going to own it.

“It’s got to sit with you, man,” Painter said. “It’s got to sit with you to get you to work harder; not talk about it. You don’t need to talk about anything. We’ve got to work harder.”

Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: ‘Wish I had an answer’ | Purdue can no longer defend postseason woes