Purdue Eliminated From Tournament In Thriller
The Boilermakers were unable to come through in crunch-time against the Cincinnati Bearcats Thursday night, losing by a score of 66-65 in what was a closely-contested overtime finish.
And just like that, Purdue’s championship hopes are over soon after they started.
You can thank Troy Caupain for that, Boilermaker fans.
Caupain hit a buzzer-beating layup right before the end of regulation to send the game into overtime and give the Bearcats one last breath of air.
It was a remarkable shot. A shot that really had no business going in after spinning on the outside of the rim, teetering on the edge before being stopped by the backboard and going through.
The game was Purdue’s game to win. The Boilermakers had a seven-point lead with 48.5 seconds to go before allowing a 10-3 run by Cincinnati to extend their hopes of advancing to the next round and ending regulation all tied up.
More from Ink on Indy
- Still Searching for Their Groove, Pacers Take on Struggling Magic Thursday Night
- Pacers Travel to the Nation’s Capital to Begin Four Game Road Trip
- Update on Pacers’ Oladipo’s Serious Leg Injury
- Has Romeo Langford Been a Disappointment for the Hoosiers?
- The Indianapolis Colts Have a Brutal Road Schedule in 2019
Things were starting to look bad for the Bearcats after forward Octavius Ellis was ejected with 17:53 left in the game after an elbow to the neck of Purdue’s A.J. Hammons for what was a stupid, mindless act that could have hurt the team in the end.
Watch: Cincinnati's Octavius Ellis ejected for elbowing opponent http://t.co/WKtFuMuDZs http://t.co/QtpcRrffkN
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) March 20, 2015
Luckily for Ellis, Cincinnati was able to secure the victory or else he may have taken a bit of heat for the loss. Ellis appeared shaken up and crying as he found out he was ejected from the game. But there are no excuses for plays like that in basketball.
Ellis won’t have to play the “what if” game however, as Cincinnati will be focused on likely taking on coach Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats Saturday.
For Purdue comes the end of a good season. There could be some room for improvement for the Boilermakers next season after going 21-13 this year, but things still appear to be very bright next season with a surging A.J. Hammons, whose stock is only rising (assuming he returns for his senior year).
Until then, Purdue now has to watch from home just like a handful of other teams today who had their championship aspirations shattered.
Rest assured that shall they be in the tournament again this time next year, they’ll be hungry for different results.