The Round of 64 & 32: By the Numbers
Mar 22, 2026; St. Louis, MO, USA; Purdue Boilermakers guard Fletcher Loyer (2) celebrates after the game against the Miami Hurricanes during a second round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images The Purdue Boilermakers secured their spot in the Sweet Sixteen with victories over Queens and Miami while flashing both their consistently efficient offense and an improved defense over the last two weeks.
The Boilers were dominant in their opening round victory against Queens while needing more finesse against the Hurricanes but it was a total team effort for the entire weekend as the Boilers will square off against the 11th-seeded Texas Longhorns that feature former Purdue wing Cam Heide. This is going to contain information from two games so let’s jump into the numbers! 7 With Purdue’s victory against Miami, Purdue has now made the Sweet 16 in 7 of the last 9 NCAA Tournaments.
That’s something no other program in the country can lay claim to and is a testament to the consistently high level Matt Painter has elevated the program to. Yes, Purdue has history with some bad losses in the NCAA Tourney but those have been pushed to the side as Painter has clearly learned from those hard lessons. Next season will be a test for the Boilers with the guys they have leaving but I’m not sure there is anyone else in the country you trust more as a head coach to get the most out of a team and make a run in March right now.
500 Matt Painter has been the example of consistency since he became the head coach at Purdue for the 2005-2006 season. In his 21 seasons, Purdue has averaged 23. 8 wins per season and that gives Painter 500 victories in that time span.
He is now the 11th fastest coach to achieve 500 victories at one school joining Bill Self (Kansas-17 Seasons), Mark Few (Gonzaga-18 Seasons), Jerry Tarkanian (UNLV-19 Seasons), Lute Olson (Arizona-20 Seasons), Jim Boeheim (Syracuse-21 Seasons), Tom Izzo (Michigan State-21 Seasons), Jim Calhoun (UConn-21 Seasons), Denny Crum (Louisville-21 Seasons), John Thompson (Georgetown-21 Seasons), Jay Wright (Villanova-21 Seasons). That’s also faster than Coach K at Duke, Coach Wooden at UCLA, Dean Smith at UNC, and Adolph Rupp at Kentucky. That’s a testament to what Painter has been able to do for the Boilermakers.
Continue to the original source for the full article.