‘It has to stop raining sometimes' Another surprising NCAA loss leaves Purdue in familiar position

WEST LAFAYETTE – At some point, the current trend reverses itself, right?

Three consecutive NCAA tournament losses to double-digit seeds stop, and Purdue’s program changes course and avoids uncomfortable exits from the postseason.

“We have to sit in it, which freakin sucks,” junior Ethan Morton said. “Hopefully, better days ahead. Like (David Jenkins, Jr.) says, ‘It has to stop raining sometimes.’ It did for us most of the year.”

However, the storm clouds dumped a heavy dose of reality on the Boilermakers less than a week ago, and the process of moving forward has been slow. The loss to No. 16 seed FDU and the emotions from the locker room still resonate even if time is supposed to make these situations better.  

Just like the scars and bruises on Zach Edey’s arms from the physical play the 7-foot-4 junior absorbed this season, the emotional wounds may never completely go away. And that might be a good thing.

But the loss to Saint Peter’s one year ago, although in the Sweet 16 compared to the first round, was expected to have the same impact. The loss likely spurred the Boilermakers through the summer, the regular season in winning the Big Ten title by three games, and the conference tournament but lost its steam before they could make a postseason run this year.

“We’re not going to forget it for a long time,” junior Brandon Newman said. “If we have to sit in it for this offseason and beyond … we haven’t forgotten what happened to us last year, and we’re definitely not going to forget what happened this year.”

It’s also important not to lose sight of what the program did accomplish this season. The three wins in Portland, Oregon, set the stage for another No. 1 ranking, taking control of the Big Ten with a nine-game winning streak and going through Rutgers, Ohio State, and Penn State to win the league tournament.

Freshman Braden Smith called it “a 100% great season,” overcoming low expectations from outside the program to check off the team’s goals.

“We passed all of our goals, except for one last goal we didn’t get,” Smith said. “Overall, the season, we did everything as a fan base and as a team that we would want to do. We won the Big Ten by three games. We’ll take that, we wanted this more, and we thought we would’ve had a deeper run.”

But what happened – or didn’t happen – in Columbus serves as a hard reminder of the realities of a one-and-done tournament, regardless of the opponent or how high Purdue is seeded.

“It was a pretty great year, and in situations like this, hopefully, eventually, we’re able to come through – and I sound like a broken record – we do things the right way, not just me and the guys but Paint, the whole coaching staff and Purdue University Athletic Department, everybody does things the right way,” Morton said. “That doesn’t always get rewarded, it’s not always fair in life, but at some point, hopefully, we reap the benefits of that.”

One-on-one player meetings will begin shortly to determine what’s next and how the roster shapes up next season.

Expect movement, both leaving and joining the program, since that’s the nature of college athletics, and the Boilermakers will have a logjam at certain positions with the addition of freshman Myles Colvin and Camden Heide, who is coming off a redshirt season along with returning players.

Edey’s decision, whether to join the professional ranks or return, is the one to watch, and the direction of the National Player of the Year could lead to more movement from the roster. The deadline to declare for the NBA Draft is April 23, but college players can withdraw by May 31 to retain eligibility. The NBA Draft Combine is May 15-21 in Chicago.

Whoever is on the roster going into next season will put in the time and the work to improve the deficiencies that haunted the Boilermakers this season. The emphasis on defense after the 2021-22 season paid off with better performances throughout this year

But cleaning up turnovers, making opponents pay for applying fullcourt pressure, and finding a consistent level of 3-point shooting are a couple of areas that need to be addressed for Purdue to avoid another unsettling loss in the NCAA tournament.

“We have to work a little harder, we’ve got to have a little bit more nuts to go make a big shot. We have to get a little bit better,” freshman Fletcher Loyer said.