ST. LOUIS — Senior center Oscar Cluff had a vision of the Big Apple, not North Carolina, when he first found out the Boilermakers would be playing Queens in the first round of March Madness.
During an interview he was surprised to find out Queens is in Charlotte, North Carolina, and will be just the first battle to the National Championship.
“At first it was a little disrespectful, then we realized probably a year or two ago before we came to Queens, we didn’t know where it was either,” senior guard Nasir Mann said in response to Cluff’s mess-up. “That’s the best thing about this moment. We can put Charlotte on the map.”
The No. 2-seed Purdue Boilermakers (27-8, 14-7 Big Ten) made their first appearance at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis to face the No. 15-seed Queens (21-13, 13-5 ASUN), walking onto the court for their first practice on Thursday with their game faces and a familiar Boilermaker spirit present. The Boilermakers embedded confidence that they had their eyes on a spot in Round 32 of March Madness.
After leaving Chicago this past Sunday victorious with the 2026 Big Ten Tournament title, the Boilermakers quickly shifted their focus to sustaining strong play, eventually to dribble their way back to their home state to claim the 2026 NCAA March Madness title.
“Your goal is to win your conference championship. Then it is to get into the NCAA Tournament. The fact that we went nine, 10 years here with a top-four seed. We don’t take it for granted,” Coach Matt Painter said when asked about what makes this tournament so special for Purdue. “We know it is hard work to get in this position. It is hard for everybody, no matter what your seed is, to get in this position. This is what it is all about. We are always thinking about ways to improve for this time. Obviously we have had success, but we have also had failures.”
Queens traveled all the way from the sunny area of Charlotte, North Carolina to the Midwest for its first ever March Madness appearance.
“I think they’re a pretty good offensive team. They have a lot of guys that can drive and score. Pretty good offense as well,” senior guard Fletcher Loyer said. “They mix up their look. Come ready to play.”
Queens currently stands in third for the ASUN division with a three-game winning streak. Its most-recent Atlantic Sun championship title qualified the team for March Madness.
Queens NC sophomore guard Yoav Berman and senior guard Nasir Mann share the team’s successes and how they plan to play against the Purdue Boilermakers on Friday during the first round of March Madness.
Sarah Wiederkehr | Staff Photographer
Sitting with big goals going into the matchup, Queens’ Buddy the Dog was the best symbol for the team as it continues to make history.
“Buddy is like our spirit animal. I knew we had a very talented team this year, scoring and shooting. I never thought that was going to be an issue. I always try to motivate them to do little things, the tough things. . . We want them to embody the street dog mentality of fighting for everything you can get,” Queens Coach Grant Leonard said.
And a fight shall be had as Queens will need to pack a punch against one of the top offenses in the country. If Queens can find weak points within the Boilermaker defense, it will make all the difference.
On the other end of the court, senior guard Braden Smith’s victory run as No. 41 has come to an end, instead he will remain as No. 3 for the rest of the season.
“I am assuming that’s (No. 3 jersey) the one I will be wearing. That’s what I think. I think it is all sewed back up. It got sewed up in halftime of that game,” Smith said. “I could have worn it in that second half, but 41 made shots so we kind of just stuck with it.”
Despite going back to his own roots, Smith currently stands two assists away from breaking the NCAA all-time assist record.
The Boilermakers are hopeful they can dribble their way to a clean sweep against the Queens as they continue to work toward the same goals that were present during their most-recent tournament victory. The main focus has been just continuing to strengthen the defense and to continue moving up the tournament ladder.
Purdue will make its 2026 March Madness debut at 6:35 p.m. Friday night at Enterprise Stadium. From there, the winner will advance to Sunday’s game at the same site for the round of 32.
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