Purdue finally solves Beard in March, beats Texas 81-71
MILWAUKEE — Jaden Ivey made a critical 3-pointer with 1:01 left and finished with 18 points, and Purdue finally figured out a way to get past Texas coach Chris Beard in March, beating the Longhorns 81-71 on Sunday night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Trevion Williams scored 22 points to lead the Boilermakers, who capitalized on a major disparity at the free-throw line to reach the Sweet 16. Purdue had 46 attempts, making 33, while the Longhorns went 7 of 12 on free throws.
Butler graduate Ethan Morton scored eight points, sank two treys and blocked two shots in Purdue’s victory.
The third-seeded Boilermakers (29-7) gave away an early 14-point lead but recovered and advanced to an East Region semifinal on Friday in Philadelphia against this year's out-of-nowhere tourney darling, 15th-seeded Saint Peter's.
Beard had won each of his two previous NCAA Tournament matchups with coach Matt Painter's Boilermakers, who had the better seed each time. Beard's Little Rock squad knocked off Purdue in the first round in 2016, and he led Texas Tech past the Boilermakers in a 2018 regional semifinal.
Marcus Carr led sixth-seeded Texas (22-12) with 23 points and Andrew Jones scored 17.
