For a year, the Purdue basketball team has talked about and heard all the talk from last year’s disappointing loss to 16th seed FDU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Heading into today’s matchup against 16th seed Grambling State, the talking is over as the Boilermakers admit they are ready to put three years worth of disappointments behind them.
For guard Fletcher Loyer, last year’s loss made him stronger, as it served as a learning tool.
“It gave us a lot of room for improvement this summer in the workouts, in the lifting and conditioning and just team getting ready to go. I think it’s been a special year, and I think we’re ready to prove what we’ve learned,” Loyer said.
Purdue basketball big man Zach Edey echoed those sentiments.
“I think our mentality is come in and win the basketball game. I think we want to execute, we want to prove people wrong. I think a lot of people on this team have that game in the back of our mind, and that’s not who we are. That’s not what we’re defined by. I think a lot of people on the team want to show that’s not the truth,” Edey said.
Purdue basketball maintains it is hungry, ready to cut down nets
What is true, according to Loyer, is Purdue basketball is hungrier this year than they were last year.
“Last year, we won the Big Ten and the Big Ten Tournament, something that is very hard to do, and we still know that’s not enough. We know winning the regular season this year putting in all that work to fight back and win another ring. It’s huge, but it’s not what we want to do. We want to win a national championship,” Loyer said.
For Edey, the talk is over and it is time to show people what everyone inside the Purdue basketball locker room believes — that the Boilermakers are the top team in the country.
“I think it’s kind of something you don’t need to talk about. I think everybody just understands who we
are. Everybody understands what this game is. We’ve talked about it a little bit, but it’s something that kind of
goes unspoken. Everybody is understanding what this is,” Edey said.
Purdue basketball coach Matt Painter echoed those sentiments.
“I know we’ve improved. We’re a better basketball team. We’re a more skilled basketball team. But from a competitive standpoint, like this is what you want. You want to get back to where you are. It’s hard to get back in the position that we were, but we’ve been able to accomplish that, and now, we’re excited about playing,” Painter said.
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