Purdue’s homegrown core meets Miami’s transfer-fueled rise in a West Region showdown in NCAA tourney

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Purdue coach Matt Painter has done just about everything with the Boilermakers except win .

The same could be said for his All-American guard, Braden Smith, the new , and longtime teammates Fletcher Loyer and Trey Kaufman-Renn, who once again are leading Purdue on an annual trek through March Madness.

It's still a long road back to the championship game for the No. 2 seed Boilermakers, and up next in the West Region on Sunday is a tough test in seventh-seeded Miami — with No. 1 seed down the road. But after their romp through the Big Ten Tournament, and in Thursday's first round, they are looking like title contenders at just the right time.

“You have to cherish it,” said Painter, who took Purdue to the title game a couple of years ago before losing to UConn. “It's a special time for these guys. I always say it to our younger guys, because they don't quite get it — like, this is it for our seniors. This is it. It is over. I'm coming back next year; they're not. So we've got to do everything in our power to have a special run.”

The Wildcats, meanwhile, play in their second-round game on Sunday in San Diego.

Purdue and Miami have a lot of similarities, right down to a couple of Hurricanes in Malik Reneau and Tre Donaldson who have some ties to the Big Ten, and have faced the Boilermakers before. But how they've been built might be the biggest difference.

The Boilermakers rely on a bygone formula of recruiting the right pieces and allowing them to develop. Smith and Loyer are perhaps the best examples, the pair of Indiana natives arriving on campus four years ago and leading the way ever since.

One of the byproducts of that continuity is sustained success: The Boilermakers have won a pair of Big Ten regular-season titles and two Big Ten tourney titles over the past four years, and they've been to the Sweet 16 the past two seasons.

“You're looking for the right fit,” Painter said, “but you also figure out some things when you've been somewhere 21 years. It's not different than dating. You find out who you can sign — Everyone wants to sign AJ Dybantsa, right? You're not getting him — so you have to understand, who do we want here, who can we get here and who is the right fit?”

Miami coach Jai Lucas didn't have the luxury of building his program over time after inheriting a seven-win fiasco. Instead, he brought together some talented recruits and a bunch of transfers who felt marginalized at their previous schools, and who admittedly continue to carry a sizable chip on their shoulders, all despite a Division I-record 19-win improvement over last season.

“To put together a team that is this good in a short amount of time,” Painter said, “it really speaks volumes to their staff.”

Lucas is the first to point out that it's more than just the staff, though. It's been the collective buy-in from everyone at Miami.

“I haven't really reflected on the season yet,” he said, “but it just shows that we had the right people in the building with the players, with the staff and then also with the support from the university, the administration and the fans."

Reneau, the Hurricanes’ leading scorer, spent three seasons at Indiana before heading to Miami, while Donaldson spent last season at Michigan. In other words, they played at two schools that the Boilermakers consider two of their biggest Big Ten rivals.

“It’s going to be a fun game,” Reneau said, “not just because I’ve been at IU and it’s a rival but because there’s a lot at stake.”

The Wildcats are one win away from their fourth Sweet 16 appearance in five seasons under Tommy Lloyd, but Utah State is a tricky opponent – perhaps even tricky enough to cause problems for Arizona, one of the favorites to win the whole NCAA tourney.

The ninth-seeded Aggies took out Villanova in the first round with a second-half charge catalyzed by their matchup zone defense, which relies on chemistry and hard work to limit preferred scoring chances. Utah State also plays a creative offensive scheme that is difficult to pigeonhole, even for opposing coaches.

“They’re a team that’s kind of breaking the mold,” Lloyd said Saturday.

“They for sure have a strong identity, playing physical, playing quick,” Arizona forward Ivan Kharchenkov added. “And now preparing for them, we obviously know what they’re doing.”

If the Boilermakers are heating up at the right time, Arizona has been blazing for quite a while. The Wildcats have won 10 straight, including a pair of wins over Houston — one in the Big 12 title game — two wins over Iowa State and a victory over Kansas.

“I love the way they play,” Aggies coach Jerrod Calhoun said. “There’s very few college basketball teams I enjoy watching play. I would rather watch Europe or the Boston Celtics, to be honest with you. But Tommy’s probably one of the five teams I really enjoy watching.”

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AP Sports Writer Greg Beacham in San Jose, California, contributed.

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