Purdue hit the court on Saturday for their final home game of the year, but fell to Wisconsin 97-93. While senior guard Fletcher Loyer set a school record on senior night, the senior night loss is sure to sting.
After the game, head coach Matt Painter spoke to the media about the senior night loss, per Angela Moryan of WISHNews8.
“It's very frustrating. You feel as a coach that you've let them down – because you have,” Painter said. “I've got to do a better job of helping them. So it's a very frustrating, disappointing feeling.”
Purdue led for a majority of the first half, but lost the lead late in the half. They would retake the lead in the second half twice, but could not hold off Wisconsin. Painter took the blame for the loss, according to Dustin Schutte of Sports Illustrated.
“I know this — when you're in charge, you gotta own it. This is on me, us being 6-4 [in the Big Ten] at home,” Painter said. “You can talk until you're blue in the face, I can talk basketball all day long with you, but you have to figure it out about your team, and I haven't done a good job with that. I own that.”
Purdue finished the regular season at 23-8 and 13-7 in conference play. Still, five of the eight losses were at home this year. Further, after they started 17-1 on the season, they went 6-7 down the stretch run of the season.
Purdue was a favorite to win the Big Ten heading into the season, but finished with the seventh seed heading into the Big Ten Tournament. Still, Painter is confident his team will not give up.
“We're not giving in to this s—,” Painter said. “We're the people that do it. You gotta go back to the drawing board, gotta watch tape, gotta figure it out. Now, I like the Big Ten Tournament. You figure out who you're going to play, figure out who you're going to play from a winner. You sit and play that waiting game, then you have to get ready really quick.”
Purdue is still projected as a three-seed in the NCAA tournament. They will start their Big Ten tournament on Thursday, against Indiana, Penn State, or Northwestern. With a win in that game, they will play the next day against Michigan State.
