NCAA Tournament: Purdue expert previews the Arizona game, makes a score prediction
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 26: Braden Smith #3 and Oscar Cluff #45 of the Purdue Boilermakers react on the bench against the Texas Longhorns during the first half in the Sweet Sixteen of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at SAP Center on March 26, 2026 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) | Getty Images SAN JOSE—Getting past the Sweet 16 was the first step for Arizona, but there’s still one more game before it can end that 25-year drought of reaching the Final Four. And to do so it will require knocking off a team that ended its own long drought a few seasons ago.
Second-seeded Purdue made the NCAA final in 2024, its first trip to the Final Four since 1980. And the Boilermakers (30-8) still have three starters left from that team, making them arguably the most experienced opponent the UA will have faced this season. To better understand Purdue, we reached out to Andrew Ledman at SB Nation sister site Hammer and Rails .
Below are his decisive answers to our passive aggressive questions: AZ Desert Swarm: Purdue needed a clutch tip-in from Trey Kaufman-Renn to beat pesky Texas in the Sweet 16. What was it most effective at in that win, and where did it struggle? Andrew Ledman: “Honestly they struggled just about everywhere.
Purdue was 4 of 20 from 3 with Fletcher Loyer hitting 4 of 8 and some basic knowledge of numbers tells you the rest of the team was 0 for 12. This was against a Texas defense that was 15th in 3-point defense in the SEC. Now, they played much much better defense in the tournament, but 4 of 20 isn’t sustainable.
On defense they allowed Texas to shoot 44 percent from 3, granted some of them were very tough shots. They also allowed 12 offensive rebounds which really hurt them. “Oscar Cluff had a tough game and ultimately fouled out when he fouled the Texas player who was driving to the lane with 11 seconds left down by 3.
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