Purdue beats Butler to advance to Sweet 16, earn bragging rights in Indiana

No. 2 Purdue Boilermakers defeated the No. 10 Butler Bulldogs on Sunday to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. This game came down to the wire, despite Purdue managing to maintain a significant lead in the second half.

Butler had a chance to tie in the final seconds, but Kamar Baldwin’s half-court attempt hit off the rim:

It looked like the shot was released after the buzzer sounded.

Midway through the second half, Purdue was able to get a 10-point lead thanks to a 2:52 stretch that Butler went scoreless. But the Bulldogs managed to pull back within inside 10 minutes, and with 1:47 left in the game, Butler pulled within two at 73-71.

Back on the other end, Purdue came up huge on defense, with this monster block to get the ball back. Butler was unable to score on the other end, which forced the Bulldogs the start fouling. Then Purdue’s Dakota Mathias hit a three-pointer with less than 10 seconds left, giving the Boilermakers some breathing room.

Butler had a chance with 1.9 seconds left and one final shot, but the Hail Mary attempt was no good, even though it was dang close!

Coming in, the biggest question mark for Purdue was replacing Boilermaker senior Isaac Haas who fractured his right elbow on Friday against Cal State Fullerton. It was reported Saturday that Haas was going to try and play through the injury, but ultimately he ended up sitting on the bench for the game.

The man who stepped up in Haas’ place was freshman Matt Haarms, and he performed well in Isaac’s absence, scoring seven points and adding another five rebounds. The production level obviously wasn’t the same as Isaac’s, but the Boilermakers relied on Carsen Edwards and Vincent Edwards on offense, who combined for 33 points on the day.

“They’re high-major players for a reason, too,” senior point guard P.J. Thompson said of Haarms via Journal & Courier. ”They practice every day just like we do. We handle cases like this like pros do. Some pros don’t play for 10 games, then they’re expected to come in that 11th game, and when they get their number called, they’re expected to produce.

”It’s the same thing here. Whether Matt plays 20 minutes or five minutes he’s the biggest cheerleader we have on our team. That’s why I’m confident in it. I know he’s prepared because he’s engaged and he’s been there.”

Purdue’s tournament dance now continues, and the Boilermakers will face No. 3 Texas Tech in the Sweet Sixteen in Boston next weekend.