Matt Painter on bounce back to make Final Four: 'Sometimes when you sit in it and you take it, great things can happen'

The Purdue Boilermakers and Tennessee Volunteers finished a classic of a basketball game on Sunday in their Elite Eight matchup in Detroit. In the end, Zach Edey was simply a man on a mission, and could not be stopped. Following the massive win, Boilermakers head coach Matt Painter spoke with Evan Washburn on the floor about making the Final Four.

The Boilermakers prevailed 72-67 in a highly entertaining affair. The Purdue redemption story marches onward to their first Final Four since 1980.

He said their gameplan coming in was no secret. Feed their big man.

“Well obviously, we wanted to isolate Zach [Edey],” Painter said. “I think we definitely missed a lot of threes we normally make. We missed a lot of free throws and stayed with it. This is a tough bunch. Great coach. I’m just proud of our guys, man.”

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“I’m proud of our guys that we had to pull through in a tough game,” the Boilermakers head coach said.

It was without a doubt, the stiffest test of the tournament so far for Purdue. They beat all three of their first opponents in this year’s tourney by double digits, including a 106-67 thrashing of Utah State.

After dealing with the disappointment of becoming just the second No. 1 seed in NCAA Tournament history to fall to a 16-seed, the Boilermakers had to deal with the sting of that all offseason. How did that adversity help them battle back to a historic accomplishment this year?

“Well, sure, it helped when Zach [Edey] came back. So, all of these guys have played so hard and worked on their game. And put a lot of time into it. And we had to sit in it. We had to take it. And sometimes when you sit in it and you’re honest with yourself and you take it, great things can happen,” Painter explained on bouncing back to make the Final Four.

It’s certainly one of the more fascinating redemption stories in college basketball history. The Boilermakers have traveled the same path that the No. 1 seed Virginia Cavaliers went through after losing to 16-seed UMBC in 2018. Virginia went on to win the 2019 National Championship. Can Purdue pull off the same kind of magic? This year’s Final Four teams are just full of fascinating storylines.