Purdue’s mindset ahead of Sweet 16 matchup against Texas

SAN JOSE, Calif. (WISH) — No. 2 seed Purdue got on the court to practice for the first time in San Jose ahead of its game against No. 11 seed Texas in the Sweet 16.

Texas is the only double-digit seed playing the Sweet 16, but the Boilermakers know it will not be easy against the Longhorns. Texas has won three games in the NCAA Tournament, beating No. 11 seed NC State in the First Four, No. 6 seed BYU in the first round, and No. 3 seed Gonzaga in the second round.

Purdue also knows it is only two wins away from making it back to Indianapolis to play in the Final Four. But, the Boilermakers’ main focus right now is taking care of business against Texas.

“We know Texas is going to be a tough match,” Purdue head coach Matt Painter said. “Very good across the board. Very athletic, very long, tough. Sean’s (Sean Miller) teams always defend, rebound, and they’re obviously playing their best basketball. A little similar to us at the end of the year where we had some losses, they’ve had some losses, but I think you can magnify a lot of different things. They’ve played better here in the tournament. We’ve played better. We’ve both defended better than we did in those stretches, and I think that’s what it’s all about, is how you’re playing right now and how you’ve got to be able to just to push forward. But excited about the challenge. We know this is going to be a very, very difficult game.

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