Bitter ending to Purdue’s Sweet 16 NCAA dreams

By Bud L. Ellis

The Purdue Boilermakers were a strong choice to make it to the Sweet 16 in this year’s NCAA tournament. But as the Big Dance continues into the next round, the Boilermakers will instead head home to ponder what could have been.

Purdue did not have an answer for Virginia Commonwealth in the third round of the NCAA tournament on Sunday, VCU bouncing the Boilermakers from the NCAAs 94-76 in the Southwest regional in Chicago.

Purdue entered the NCAAs as the third seed in the Southwest. After a 65-43 victory in the second round on Friday against St. Peter’s, the Boilermakers had sights set on the Sweet 16. Instead, VCU handed Purdue a bitter ending to a season that saw Purdue finish second overall in the Big Ten Conference.

Purdue’s season ends after 26 victories, thanks in part to the Rams shooting 57.8 percent from the field. The Boilermakers were just 8 of 25 from 3-point range, trailed 42-32 at halftime and gave up 52 second-half points.

JaJuan Johnson led Purdue with 25 points and 14 rebounds. Ryne Smith added 20 points.

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Sunday, March 20, 2011 at 7:54 pm by bud

Tags: Big Ten Conference, JuJuan Johnson, NCAA Tournament, Purdue Boilermakers news, Purdue Boilermakers schedule, Purdue Boilermakers tickets, Ryne Smith, St. Peter’s, Virginia Commonwealth