No. 2 Purdue advances to 3rd straight Sweet 16 with win over No. 7 Miami

C.J. Cox and the Purdue Boilermakers celebrate after beating the Miami Hurricanes during the second round of the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. (Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

(Dilip Vishwanat via Getty Images)

Purdue is back in the Sweet 16.

The No. 2 Boilermakers advanced to the second week of the NCAA tournament for the third straight season with a 79-69 win over No. 7 Miami on Sunday. Purdue went on an 11-3 run with less than 10 minutes to go to turn a 57-54 lead into a 68-57 advantage with 5:32 to go.

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That 11-point advantage was Purdue’s largest lead of the game.

Guard Fletcher Loyer missed just one shot all game. Loyer scored 24 points as he was 6-of-7 from the field, 4-of-4 from behind the arc, and 8-of-8 from the free-throw line.

As a team, Purdue made its first 15 free throws before Oscar Cluff’s miss with less than three minutes to go.

Miami got Purdue’s lead to four with less than a minute to go, but the Hurricanes were never able to get it to a one-possession game thanks in part to that free-throw shooting. Purdue finished 21-of-22 from the line and was 8-of-14 from behind the arc.

Putting the 2023 NCAA tournament further in the rear-view mirror

Purdue does not look like a program haunted by one of the biggest upsets in NCAA tournament history. The Boilermakers became the second No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 seed three seasons ago. But they’ve now won at least two NCAA tournament games in each of the past three NCAA tournaments.

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The year after losing to St. Peter’s, Purdue made the national title game before losing to UConn. A season ago, the Boilermakers fell to eventual national title game participant Houston 62-60 in the Sweet 16 as a No. 4 seed.

This season, the Boilermakers will be heavily favored to make the Elite Eight against either No. 1 Arizona or No. 4 Arkansas. Purdue will play No. 11 Texas in the Sweet 16 after the Longhorns won three games in five days. Texas beat NC State in the First Four before beating No. 6…

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Author : Nick Bromberg

Publish date : 2026-03-22 18:16:00

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