On Sunday morning it was the battle of the Hoosier state between the Butler Bulldogs and Purdue Boilermakers to find out what team would be tasting sweetness and advancing to Beantown next Friday night where they will play the #3 seeded Texas Tech Red Raiders.
The entire game was intense as both teams were trading scores throughout, until Dakota Mathias hit a big three point attempt with 14.2 seconds remaining which gave the Boilers a five point lead at 76-71. Butler scored a two point basket cutting the lead to 76-73 with 2.1 seconds left and had another chance to tie the game after a missed Purdue free throw by P.J. Thompson with 1.8 seconds left, but a half court shot attempt bounced off the rim. That gave the Boilermakers their 30th win of the season against 6 losses.
Purdue played without starting 7’2″ senior center Isaac Haas, who broke his elbow in the previous game against Cal State Fullerton and will not return for Purdue’s remaining games in the tournament. Haas was replaced in the starting lineup by 7’3″ freshman Matt Haarms who did a admirable job by pulling down six rebounds with two blocked shots while scoring seven points. Purdue was led in scoring by Vincent Edwards with 20 points.
The Boilermakers will have to play in your face defense to defeat the #3 seeded Red Raiders this coming Friday. They advanced with a 69-66 victory over the Florida Gators. The winner of this game will play the winner of #1 seed Villanova and #5 seed West Virginia on Sunday.
