Boiling point: Purdue fueled by loss to 16-seed

• Ben Child, ESPN Staff WriterMar 21, 2024, 05:19 PM ET Close Ben Child covers the Cincinnati Bengals for ESPN. He joined the company in July 2019. Prior to ESPN, he worked for different newspapers in Texas, most recently at The Dallas Morning News where he covered college sports. He supplies day-to-day protection of the Bengals for ESPN.com, while emerging on SportsCenter, ESPN’s NFL shows and ESPN Radio programs. A local of Grapevine, Texas, he graduated from the University of North Texas with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He is an adjunct journalism teacher at Southern Methodist University and a member of the Asian American Reporters Association (AAJA).

INDIANAPOLIS– Purdue keeps in mind the dangers of having a No. 1 seed.Last year,

the top-seeded Boilermakers suffered a stunning upset to Fairleigh Dickinson, becoming simply the 2nd men’s team to lose to a No. 16 seed because the NCAA tournament expanded. That loss has actually lingered into the background of the team’s success this year, including a Huge 10 regular-season championship.On Friday, Purdue

(29-4)will have a possibility to totally get rid of that loss when it faces 16-seed Grambling at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Center Zach Edey, the safeguarding nationwide player of the year, said the Boilermakers want to shift how the team is viewed with a win against the Tigers. “I believe a great deal of people on this team have that game in the back of our mind, which’s not who we are, “Edey said Thursday.” That’s not what we’re specified by. I believe a lot of individuals on the group want to show that’s not the truth.”Editor’s Picks

2 Associated Last March, Purdue became the first team to lose a 1-16 matchup in the competition because UMBC’s historical win over Virginia in 2018.

Grambling (20-14), the SWAC champion, overcame a 14-point deficit in the 2nd half to beat Montana State in overtime, 88-81, in a Very first 4 matchup Thursday.If the Tigers

can remove Purdue, Grambling will become the very first traditionally Black college or university to win a round-of-64 game because Norfolk State beat Missouri in 2012. Grambling coach Donte’ Jackson said the team got here in Indianapolis around 2 a.m. Friday and started seeing movie around 4 a.m.Jackson called Purdue’s loss to Fairleigh Dickinson “old news “and kept in mind the distinction between the two programs with long shots. However that does not mean Jackson isn’t bearing in mind of how Purdue lost that game.

“I’m going to pick apart that movie left and right and attempt to figure it out,” Jackson stated. “And I’ll attempt to select apart film from other, I guess, smaller colleges that Purdue will play.”

On the other side of the match, Purdue sophomore guard Fletcher Loyer noted that Grambling likes to produce turnovers and get in the paint.

“There’s absolutely nothing we’re looking past,” Loyer stated. “We’re not looking anything previous Grambling. Not thinking who we ‘d play next.”

Boilermakers coach Matt Painter said his group has been “sitting in it” for the in 2015. The coach, who remains in his 20th season overall and 19th with Purdue, stated the Boilermakers have improved since that loss and are a more experienced team.And from a

competitive perspective, he could not request for anything more to be in position to correct what took place in 2023.

“This is what you desire,” Painter said. “You want to return to where you are. It’s hard to get back in the position that we were. But we have actually been able to accomplish that, and now we’re delighted about playing.”