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Long-time Purdue fans will never forget the moment.
In the closing minute of one of the most competitive first halves of basketball in Purdue hoops history, 1994 National Player-of-the-Year Glenn Robinson made an emphatic statement with his 28th and 29th points of the opening period.
His posterizing dunk over Kansas center Greg Ostertag and subsequent and-one free throw not only gave the No. 1 seed Boilermakers a 44-40 lead but for posterity sake, it provided one of the more memorable slams in NCAA Tournament history. It also gave Robinson 30 points for the half, yes half, en route to a 44-point effort and a dramatic 83-78 win over No. 4 seed Jayhawks.
Yes, there have been some great performances on both sides in the three NCAA Tournament games between Kansas and Purdue. After the Boilermakers' prevailed in '94, they sustained tough losses in 1997 and 2012 when the Jayhawks were the No. 1 and 2-seeds (respectively) and the Boilermakers were trying to pull the upset.
And Purdue had its chances in both of the losses, to be sure.
But more on the '94 contest.
As the top seed, Purdue was a three-point favorite, but had its doubters. Not much has changed in 23 years as the Jayhawks were a blueblood program then under Coach Roy Williams as they have been for the past 14 seasons under Bill Self. KU was no slouch in '94, having been ranked as high as No. 1. That was why so many predicted an upset was in the making.
While Robinson was amazing with his scoring, it was junior Cuonzo Martin who was the difference. Purdue set a school record with 15 three-pointers, including eight by Martin to set an individual school mark, surpassing the seven made by Woody Austin and Troy Lewis years earlier.
In the end, Martin had totaled a season-high 29 points and it was just enough for Purdue to earn a spot in the Elite Eight against Duke two days later. 'Zo almost single-handedly kept Kansas at bay down the stretch. With Purdue clinging to a 68-67 lead with 6:40 left, he hit back-to-back treys that extended the advantage to seven. Martin wasn't just clutch from deep, however. With Purdue holding a 78-76 lead, he also converted a critical one-and-one with 2:38 left to provide some key breathing room.
In the end, Purdue hung on for an 83-78 victory. Robinson's scoring total remains the Purdue standard for a NCAA Tournament game, as he surpassed Rick Mount's 36-point effort in a national semifinal victory over North Carolina 25 years earlier.
"Glenn put on quite a show, but Cuonzo was just as big," Williams said after the game. "If you would have told me that Glenn would have gone 15-of-33 for the game, I would have taken that. Still, both young men were phenomenal."
Unfortunately, Robinson and Martin were unable to get the Boilermakers to the Final Four, losing to Duke in the regional final. Robinson was held to just 13 points against the Blue Devils, after wrenching his back goofing around in a towel fight with Martin in the hotel room between games.
Three years later, it was the Boilermakers' trying to pull the upset. And it would have been a big one if Purdue sent the No. 1 ranked and No. 1-seeded Jayhawks packing. In the Southeast Regional's Round of 32 contest at the Pyramid in Memphis, Tenn., the upstart Boilermakers led 53-52 with just under 10 minutes to go after junior Chad Austin nailed a runner in the lane. KU guard Jacque Vaughn, now a senior after playing as a freshman in the '94 game, answered 22 seconds later with a triple, and the Jayhawks ultimately worked their way to a 75-61 victory.
And this was no run-of-the-mill top-ranked team. The Jayhawks were loaded and were prohibitive favorites to win Williams' first NCAA title at Kansas. Besides Vaughn, who scored a dozen points and dished out nine assists despite battling a viral infection, the Jayhawks had future NBA Hall of Famer Paul Pierce and NBA first-rounders Raef LaFrentz and Scot Pollard on its roster. It made for one of the most formidable front lines in college basketball history. Pierce led all scorers with 20 while LaFrentz and Pollard had 18 and 10, respectively.
Shockingly, the Jayhawks were beaten two days later by No. 4 seed and eventual national champion Arizona and ended their season with a 34-2 record. Purdue earned a spot in the Big Dance with just 17 regular-season wins, a pre-tournament victory total equaled the 1990-91 team (Matt Painter was a starting guard on that team) for the lowest of any Boilermaker team entering the Tournament. Purdue finished the season 18-12. Yet, the performance by Coach Gene Keady's team, which returned all of its primary players for the following season, helped earn it a spot in the top-10 rankings in the preseason polls for the 1997-98 season, the first time the Boilermakers were a preseason top-10 in a decade.
Continued...
If Robinson's 30-point first-half effort is tops in all of Purdue's NCAA history, Robbie Hummel's 22-point performance in the first 20 minutes of the third-round game in 2012 against KU isn't far behind. It was literally the buzz of the college basketball world, and Hummel quite possibly became the first Boilermaker athlete to trend on Twitter while wearing a Purdue uniform. That's what 7-of-8 shooting will get you.
Hummel's play helped Purdue, a No. 10 seed after disposing of No. 7-seed St. Mary's in the second round, to a 36-30 lead at intermission against the No. 2-seeded Jayhawks. And the Boilermakers were poised for the upset after building a 10-point lead in the second half. But it all unraveled in the game's final minute.
While only leading 44 seconds in the contest, Self's Kansas team stormed back to within 60-57 with 2:03 left. Purdue was still ahead 60-59 with 59.9 to play. After a timeout, senior guard Lewis Jackson brought the ball up the court and kept his dribble. He never passed, trying to drive middle but getting cut off and then slipping and getting the ball stripped by Elijah Johnson.
Johnson zipped down the floor and got a layup to give the Jayhawks a 61-60 lead with 23.3 to play. On the ensuing play, Jackson had the ball again, dribbling around the perimeter before getting it to Hummel on the wing. Hummel, who cooled off in the second half with just four points, missed a three-pointer.
“I got a good look,” Hummel said after the game. “I thought it was going in. It felt good. I was just short. I thought Lewis did a very good job of finding me there, and that’s on me to make that one. I just didn’t make it.”
Thomas Robinson secured the rebound for Kansas and quickly got the ball out of his hands. Taylor rushed down the floor and easily could have simply run out the clock. Instead, he dunked it, giving Kansas a 63-60 lead but also leaving Purdue 2.5 seconds for one final play. Purdue got one more chance as senior guard Ryne Smith had a 30-footer to tie the game carom off the backboard and off the front rim before falling out.
It was a crushing way for Smith, Jackson and Hummel, a very popular group of seniors, to end their careers.
"Losing sucks," Hummel said in the locker room after.
Indeed it does.
What will Thursday night hold? If history is any teacher, the Boilermakers will be in the game to the end. Can Purdue pull its biggest upset in NCAA Tournament play since its Sweet 16 surprise over Indiana 37 years ago, a victory which ultimately helped the Boilermakers' most recent Final Four appearance?
We will know on Thursday night just before the stroke of midnight.
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