INDIANAPOLIS — Kelvin Sampson and Houston are tuning out nostalgia and naysayers with a goal of tunnel vision when the top-seeded Cougars take the court against Purdue at Lucas Oil Stadium on Friday night in a semifinal matchup in the Midwest Region.
A late-night game Friday (10:07 p.m. ET scheduled tip) and the last of the eight regional semifinals, Houston (32-4) isn’t playing the disrespect card despite a regional bracket that funneled the Cougars into a virtual home game for Purdue.
“No,” Sampson said Thursday when asked if the geography of the Sweet 16 matchup bothered him. “I didn’t hear what you said.”
Sampson, the onetime coach at Indiana, said it “doesn’t mean anything to me” to be back in the Hoosier State. The sidebars and subplots aren’t the part of the programming he’s focused on this weekend. It will mean something to top scorer L.J. Cryer, who won a national title on the same court as a freshman at Baylor in 2021.
Players were not numb to the notion Purdue (24-11) received a tangible advantage with the location of the game. They’ve won 15 straight games (10 road, five neutral) away from their homecourt in Houston and have a 15-game winning streak overall.
“I think our toughness and grit really travels on the road with us,” Houston’s Milos Uzan said. “We’re in the Sweet 16 out here in Indiana, not too far from Purdue. We’ll see what it’s like.”
The Boilermakers reached the national championship game last season by way of Indy, 60 miles away from the Purdue campus, but is 1-2 in games played in the state capital this season. With six losses in nine games entering the 2025 tournament, the Boilermakers scored a No. 4 seed and then won first- and second-round games by double figures.
Matt Painter credits leadership and commitment for Purdue rising to meet the moment. The Boilermakers are the only team left in the tournament with a starting five that all started their college career in the program.
“It’s just kind of the way in terms of how you recruit and how you go about things,” Painter said. “Probably the fact that we’ve been able to keep guys sometimes kind of blows your mind because it’s hard, right, if you have 13 guys on scholarship, to keep everybody happy.”
Painter is one win away from his 12th 25-win season at Purdue and a victory would send the Boilermakers to the Elite Eight to face the winner of Friday’s early game: No. 2 seed Tennessee and No. 3 seed Kentucky. Purdue beat Tennessee in the Elite Eight last March.
“It’s one of those things where you know every game is tough. Like, we were sitting here last year, we had to play Gonzaga in this game,” Painter said. “And then we ended up playing Tennessee. Now being able to play Houston, who had just now this year just played Gonzaga in a very close game. So everybody’s great. Nobody messed around that ended up in the Sweet 16. They had to earn their way here. If you look at Houston, you could argue that they’re the best team in the country.”
Houston has the most wins in college basketball the past three seasons with a record of 97-13. Purdue is third (87-22), behind UConn (92-22).
The mutual admiration runs from coaches through to players. Purdue’s Braden Smith said the Houston defense, which held teams to 58 points per game so far this season, is elite.
“I think it starts with their bigs. I think their ball pressure is really good,” said Smith. “I think they can corral the ball on ball screens. They cause havoc.”
The Cougars edged Gonzaga 81-76 in the second round behind Cryer’s 30 points, which tied a career high. Purdue advanced with wins over High Point and McNeese.
The Boilermakers are counting on their top playmaker, Smith, to steady the ship against the Cougars’ relentless pressure. Painter said the tests to get to this point all primed Purdue for Friday night.
Smith is two assists from becoming the second player in NCAA history to have at least 500 points, 300 assists and 150 rebounds in a season. The only player to ever check those boxes in a season was Ja Morant (2018-19 for Murray State).
“Auburn’s so good. Texas A&M is so good. Shaka Smart (Marquette) and what they do. Chris Beard (Ole Miss) and how they operate,” Painter said, running through the challenging schedule to date. “That’s difficult to go against. He’s had those experiences. He’s been in the Final Four. He’s won two Big Ten championships. He’s had a lot of different experiences.
“But with all that being said, Houston’s defense could be the best out of all those people I’ve mentioned.”
The Boilermakers are 0-8 when facing a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Most recently Purdue lost to UConn in 2024, one of their four losses to top seeds who became national champions.
–Jeff Reynolds, Field Level Media
