The Purdue Boilermakers defeated the Miami Hurricanes 79–69 on Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, advancing to the Sweet 16 for the third straight season. Purdue outscored Miami by 12 in the second half to pull away after trailing at halftime.
Up next for 2-seeded Purdue is a Sweet 16 date on Thursday in San Jose with the 11th-seeded Texas Longhorns, who upset the Gonzaga Bulldogs on Saturday to advance. Former Boilermaker Camden Heide delivered the dagger against Gonzaga, a three-pointer with under 20 seconds to go to salt away the victory.
Senior guard Fletcher Loyer scored 24 points on just seven field-goal attempts, and he missed just one shot all afternoon. He was a perfect 4-for-4 from three-point distance, and he drilled all eight of his foul shots.
Entering the game, Miami was averaging just under 82 points per game, but the Purdue defense held the Hurricanes well below their season norm. The Boilermakers were very efficient with their offense, connecting on 53% of their field-goal tries, including 57% (8-for-14) from distance.
With the victory, Purdue, now 29-8, advanced to the Sweet 16 round of the tournament for the third straight season. In 2024, the Boilers played in the national championship game, ultimately losing to the UConn Huskies. Last season, the Houston Cougars sent the Boilermakers home in the regional semifinal with a basket with one second to go.
The win was the 500th of head coach Matt Painter’s career at Purdue, becoming just the fourth in the Big Ten to do so. Sunday also marked the 26th NCAA-tournament triumph for Painter.
Purdue entered the game against Miami having won its previous six Round 2 games. Early on, the Boilers looked hard-pressed to make it seven.
The Boilermakers uncharacteristically committed five turnovers in the first ten minutes; Purdue averages less than nine giveaways a game. In all, the Boilers were forced into 12 giveaways, including eight committed by All-American guard Braden Smith.
After Loyer nailed a shot from distance with 12:17 to go, a second-chance basket following an Oscar Cluff rebound, the Boilermakers led 19-12. Miami battled back and eventually tied the game at 27 with 5:56 remaining in the opening half, largely due to its rebounding. For the game, the Hurricanes outrebounded the Boilers 33-25. 14 of Miami’s rebounds were off the offensive glass.
The Hurricanes kept rolling and went on a 9-0 run to take their largest lead of the game at 36-29 with 2:06 to go until halftime. That is when the C.J. Cox show commenced.
The sophomore guard single-handedly gave the Boilermakers momentum going into the second half. Cox hit a much-needed three at the 1:48 mark to make it 36-32. After a Hurricane basket, he hit another with 54 seconds left, leaving Purdue down 38-35. Cox was not done, as his third shot from beyond the arc in the final two minutes tied the game at 38 with ten seconds left in the half.
Purdue still trailed Miami 40-38 at the half, but without that nine-point spurt from Cox, the Boilers may have been in a much more dire situation.
Early in the second half, Cox scored on a brilliant inbounds play, and he was set on delivering another basket as he drove for a fast-break layup with 17:04 to go. On the play, Cox was fouled and would stay on the ground in pain for several moments. He eventually limped off the court, but his work day was over.
After the game, Painter provided an update on Cox’s health and prognosis for Thursday.
“He hyperextended his knee,” he said in the postgame interview. “So, we’ll kind of see how treatment goes and everything to see what his status is. That’s just what our trainer told me.”
Cox seemed confident that his knee would respond and not keep him out of the Texas game.
“I just hyperextended it, and then it tightened up a little bit,” Cox said. “It’s nothing serious … I feel good.”
Along with holding Miami to 38% shooting in the second half, Purdue’s ability to squeeze out a victory was largely due to its torrid 95% free-throw shooting. With the game on the line and far from over, the Boilers converted on 16 of their 17 second-half foul shots, including six in a row when up by four with under a minute remaining.
On paper, Purdue has been expected to reach the Sweet 16 round of March Madness like clockwork. For the past nine NCAA tournaments, the Boilermakers have been a top-4 seed, which means the committee has believed in their abilities to reach a regional semifinal. Thursday will be the seventh time in those nine years that Purdue has reached this level.
The expectations surrounding Purdue basketball have always been high in West Lafayette. This season, however, hits differently because of all the experience the Boilermakers return for the 2025-26 season. Smith, Loyer, and Trey Kaufman-Renn have been the “Big Three” since enrolling at Purdue in 2022. Fans of Boiler Nation are antsy for a championship banner, and this may be the best chance for Purdue to cut down the nets at a Final Four.
Taking one step at a time, the Big Ten tournament champion Boilermakers are early 7.5-point favorites against Texas. Should Purdue prevail on Thursday, it will get another conference champion. The other regional semifinal game pits the Big 12-champ Arizona Wildcats and the SEC-winner Arkansas Razorbacks.
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