SAN JOSE — A second chance in the final second sent Purdue through to the Elite Eight.
Trey Kaufman-Renn tipped in a shot with 0.7 seconds left to give the second-seeded Boilermakers a 79-77 win over 11th-seeded Texas in the NCAA Tournament’s West Region semifinals on Thursday night.
Purdue’s Braden Smith drove to the lane on the final possession, and his jumper bounced off, right to the hands of Kaufman-Renn, one of three starters for the Boilermakers (30-8) who were part of the team that played in the 2024 NCAA final.
“Sometimes your best offense is a missed shot in those situations,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “We got a good shot there at the end. Braden, I thought he executed well, made the right read, and took the right shot. And perfect timing. That’s what you want. You want a chance to get a stick-back. If you don’t, then you go to overtime.”
A Texas heave from beyond halfcourt at the buzzer was off the mark.
Kaufman-Renn finished with 20 points and eight rebounds, making 8 of 10 shots from the floor.
Fletcher Loyer scored 18 points and Smith added 16 for Purdue, which will face No. 1 Arizona in the regional final on Saturday for a trip to the Final Four. The Wildcats handled No. 4 seed Arkansas 109-88 on Thursday.
Texas (21-15) got 29 points from Tramon Mark, the most by a Longhorn in the NCAA tourney since Kevin Durant had 30 in 2007. He hit 11 of 15 from the field and 5 of 7 from 3-point range. The Longhorns shot 51.8% overall, 55.6% in the second half.
“I don’t know if I’ve been a part of a team that’s come so far in such a short period of time as these guys,” said Texas coach Sean Miller, whose team had to play in the First Four. “I’ve used the word ‘resilience’ to describe our guys, our group, our team. I think it’s very appropriate.”
Texas’ Dailyn Swain, who had 15 points, nine rebounds and five assists, tied the game by completing a three-point play with 11.9 seconds left.
Purdue led 39-35 at halftime behind 53.1% shooting, but Texas scored the first five points of the second half for the first of six lead changes or ties before the Longhorns built a 49-45 edge with 15:40 to go on a Camden Heide 3-pointer.
Texas center Matas Vokietaitis, who averaged 18.3 points and 11 rebounds in the team’s first three NCAA tourney games, picked up his fourth foul with 12:43 remaining. In his absence, Purdue scored six in a row to go back up 58-56.
The Longhorns went ahead 70-66 on a Mark trey with 5:20 to go but then didn’t score again for more than four minutes as the Boilermakers went on a 7-0 run.
Texas missed five of its first six shots before hitting seven in a row, including four from long distance, to go up 20-16. Purdue sank four in a row to lead 26-23 with 8:38 left in the first half.
The game was tied at 30 when Vokietaitis was called for an offensive foul, which was upgraded to a flagrant and resulted in a five-point play for Purdue. Loyer made both free throws and then hit a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession, starting a personal 7-0 run.
–Brian J. Pedersen, Field Level Media
