By ANTHONY CALHOUN
WISH-TV | wishtv.com
No. 2 seed Purdue got on the court to practice for the first time in San Jose ahead of its game against No. 11 seed Texas in the Sweet 16.
Texas is the only double-digit seed playing the Sweet 16, but the Boilermakers know it will not be easy against the Longhorns. Texas has won three games in the NCAA Tournament, beating No. 11 seed NC State in the First Four, No. 6 seed BYU in the first round, and No. 3 seed Gonzaga in the second round.
Purdue also knows it is only two wins away from making it back to Indianapolis to play in the Final Four. But, the Boilermakers’ main focus right now is taking care of business against Texas.
“We know Texas is going to be a tough match,” Purdue head coach Matt Painter said. “Very good across the board. Very athletic, very long, tough. Sean’s [Sean Miller] teams always defend, rebound, and they’re obviously playing their best basketball. A little similar to us at the end of the year where we had some losses, they’ve had some losses, but I think you can magnify a lot of different things. They’ve played better here in the tournament. We’ve played better. We’ve both defended better than we did in those stretches, and I think that’s what it’s all about, is how you’re playing right now and how you’ve got to be able to just to push forward. But excited about the challenge. We know this is going to be a very, very difficult game.
“Obviously they’re a very talented group,” Purdue senior guard Braden Smith said. “Obviously they’ve got a lot of guys in there that have played high-level basketball for a long time and continue to do so and are really good players, and we have that understanding.”
“I think for now, it’s special with this group of guys and try to take it all in,” Purdue senior guard Fletcher Loyer said. “But we all know come tomorrow, for 40 minutes, we got to be some hard-playing dudes and ready to take it at them.”
“Just taking it one step at a time,” Purdue sophomore guard C.J. Cox said. “Making it to this point in the tournament is definitely big for us. Texas is a great team, so just doing whatever we can to stop them, being able to know what we’re doing on offense and defense and then being able to execute and then continuing to move on.”
The Boilermakers are familiar with this position. They have been in the Sweet 16 in seven of the last nine seasons. They will look to advance to the Elite 8 for the second time in the last three years against the Longhorns. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET on Thursday.
This story originally appeared on WISH-TV at wishtv.com/sports/basketball/purdue-basketball/purdues-mindset-ahead-of-sweet-16-matchup-against-texas/