Once again, the Purdue men's basketball team survived a first-round upset scare last week against No. 13 seed High Point University, the automatic qualifiers from the Big South Conference. The Boilermakers responded in the Round of 32 by dismantling No. 12 seed McNeese State, who had just pulled off an upset against Clemson and was the most popular and confident team in the Tournament.
Now, head coach Matt Painter and his team are headed to the Sweet 16 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, but there will not be any double-digit opponents to face. No. 1 seed Houston stands in their way, and the Boilermakers have not played well enough to beat a team of their caliber.
It all starts with point guard Braden Smith, who was named a First-Team All-American by the Associated Press last week. Purdue has leaned on him all year long, but the junior has dropped the ball so far in the NCAA Tournament.
Purdue needs Braden Smith to step up to beat Houston in the Sweet 16
During the regular season, Smith had impressive averages of 16.0 points, 8.5 assists, and 4.5 rebounds per contest while shooting 43.0% from the floor. However, through two games of March Madness, he is averaging just 15.0 points, 5.5 assists, and 3.5 rebounds per game on 34.6% shooting.
Not to mention, he averaged just 3.0 turnovers per contest in the regular season, and he is averaging 5.0 per game in the NCAA Tournament. Your best players are supposed to rise to the occasion in the postseason, not see a dip in their production.
Purdue has played two teams from the Big South and the Southland Conference, which are inferior to the Big Ten opponents that the Boilermakers played all season. Smith has been underperforming, plain and simple.
Luckily, Trey Kaufmann-Renn has been a stud for Purdue, but he alone will not be enough for the Boilermakers to advance past the Houston Cougars and their stifling defense. If Smith can step up and take care of the basketball against the immense ball pressure that coach Kelvin Sampson and the Cougars are going to put on them, then Purdue has a fighting chance.
If not, the game could get ugly.