16. Purdue (23-8)
What’s become clear in recent weeks is that this Purdue team isn’t quite as impressive as we once thought. Don’t get us wrong, the Boilermakers have impressive talent and a starting five that compare to many of the top teams, but they lost a pair of tough home games late in February and what happened in the last seven days only compounded matters.
First came Sunday’s disappointment, falling 82-74 at Ohio State despite a 20-point, 7-assist effort from Braden Smith, who continues to shine brightly. Then the Boilermakers dug a 9-point halftime hold before escaping Evanston with a 70-66 win at Northwestern. C. J. Cox had a career day with a 27-point outburst to save Purdue. The regular season and an important Senior Night ended in more disappointment as they fell 97-93 against Wisconsin. Fletcher Loyer (23 points) and Smith (20 points, 9 assists) had excellent home finales but it’s another in the loss column for the Boilermakers.
When the dust settles, there’ll be a lot of wonder about this Purdue team and what could have been. The defense just hasn’t been on par with a very efficient offense and that’s really cost them in losing four of their final six down the stretch. Purdue has certainly fallen down a few seeds with the Selection Committee but have a chance to right some wrongs at the Big Ten Tournament ahead.