ST. LOUIS — Information regarding Purdue’s Sweet 16 matchup against Texas has been released.
No. 2 seed Purdue and No. 11 seed Texas will play at 7:10 p.m. ET on Thursday, March 26. The game will be aired on CBS. The two teams are playing in the West Regional, which is being held at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif.
Announcers for the game will be Brian Anderson (play-by-play), Jim Jackson (analyst) and Allie LaForce (reporter).
Purdue picked up a victory over No. 7 seed Miami in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to reach its third straight Sweet 16. Texas earned an upset win over No. 3 Gonzaga on Saturday night in the Round of 32.
The Boilermakers are searching to return to the Final Four, setting a preseason goal of winning a national championship. Matt Painter’s team got a little bit closer to that goal after a big weekend in St. Louis, but there’s still plenty of work ahead.
Purdue’s path back to the Sweet 16
Purdue Boilermakers guard Braden Smith (3) celebrates after a play. | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
The last month has been a wild journey for Purdue. The Boilermakers struggled to close out the regular season, but have been rolling ever since postseason play started.
Purdue ended the regular season losing four of its final six games and going just 6-7 in its last 13 contests. The Boilermakers appeared to be entering March without any momentum.
Something flipped in Chicago, though, as Painter’s team won four games in four days to claim a Big Ten Tournament title. Purdue had to win games against Northwestern, Nebraska, UCLA and Michigan to win their third conference tournament championship.
That momentum carried over into the NCAA Tournament, as Purdue defeated Queens 104-71 in the first round and posted a 79-69 win over Miami in the second round.
Purdue’s senior trio of Braden Smith, Trey Kaufman-Renn and Fletcher Loyer has carried a heavy load through those first two March Madness games. Smith is averaging 19 points and eight assists per game, Kaufman-Renn is scoring 22 points and grabbing nine rebounds per contest, and Fletcher Loyer is averaging 19 points while shooting 66.7% from three-point range.
If those three continue to play like that, the Boilers will be awfully difficult to beat.
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