I don’t think my heart can take much more than this.   Purdue had a 19 point lead, and then, I got to watch as the Cyclones slowly chipped away at the lead, all the way until they actually took a 2 point lead.    But then, PJ Thompson hit a wide open three pointer to get the lead, and then Caleb Swanigan and Vince Edwards got some great baskets in the post to give Purdue a larger lead.

Yet, it still came down to 11 seconds and the need to hit a free throw to ice the game.   Some of you might have remembered that Purdue had a lead against Michigan in the Big 10 championship, but missed a FT with 11 seconds giving Michigan the chance to tie the game and send it to overtime – we all know what happened after that.

So, now here is Dakota Mathias, a 84% FT shooter on the line – and sure enough, he misses the free throw.  And it was Wooden Award finalist Caleb Swanigan – who had his 28th double-double of the season – skying over everyone to get the rebound and kick it out to Thompson.   So, now with 7 seconds, PJ Thompson – the same guy who missed the FT against Michigan, nervously rattles home both FTs to ice the game for the Boilers.

When they had a 19 point lead, I wasn’t expecting that the game would be so exciting – but at the end of the day, the Boilers did what you need to do in this tournament – survive and advance.

As for the leaders, Ryan Zotti still holds onto his 10 point lead over Rohit Kapoor, Dan Wells, and Earl McKnight.   Sadly, if you had just picked the better team in the AP Poll, you would be tied with Ryan – but we all know the AP Poll will eventually slide – they have Villanova as the champion.

I need to now slow my heart back down – hopefully, I can get to sleep – have so much adrenaline going through me right now – so happy Purdue won.