PDF: Purdue-North Texas statistics
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INDIANAPOLIS — Purdue floundered in overtime again, same as the Ohio State game in the Big Ten Tournament.
Only this time, there is no next game to turn to.
The No. 4 seed Boilermakers' surprisingly successful season ended Friday night with a first-round NCAA Tournament upset, 78-69, to No. 13 North Texas.
"The two games we lost, we had control," freshman Jaden Ivey said. "We couldn't get over the hump."
The two postseason games played out eerily similar.
This time, Purdue (18-10) was down eight — not 18 — at halftime, and had to rally to get in position to win.
In a similar situation one week earlier, Matt Painter felt his team came out sapped of its energy against the Buckeyes, so this time he preached energy during the stoppage between regulation and OT.
Didn't help.
Purdue opened the OT with Trevion Williams missing a long jumper, the first of the nine straight shots the Boilermakers missed in the extra session, as North Texas scored nine straight points.
"Overtime was a killer," Ivey said.
The Boilermakers certainly had their chances, as Williams' and Ivey's transition and-ones off Mean Green turnovers gave Purdue tangible momentum.
Both plus-one foul shots missed, though, as did a one-and-one off the hand of Isaiah Thompson with the game tied with two-and-a-half minutes left. Prior, Purdue was 10-of-11 from the stripe.
Obviously, those points added up.
But so did a lot of other things.
North Texas (18-9) exposed Purdue on defense, shooting 48 percent for the game and making nine threes, so many off dribble penetration, and so many of its scores being of the particularly debilitating end-of-the-shot-clock variety.
"They were really trying to search out matchups they liked," Painter said.
Meanwhile, Purdue didn't find many that it liked, at least not until the second half, when the offensive glass buoyed the Boilermakers. Williams finally found some offensive footing after a quiet first half and Ivey did a lot of what he's been doing the past month-plus: Starring. Ivey scored a game-high 26 points.
But Zach Edey didn't score, and took only two shots, and though he finished with 14 points on 7-of-15 shooting, Williams was just 1-for-2 for two points in the first half.
"They just took (the post) away, staying in (to help) on both sides," Painter said. "They made those guys just be passers."
More to come ...
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