Purdue holds on to oust Texas from the NCAA tournament

Forward Trevion Williams sank 10 of 13 shots and scored 22 points Sunday night, and the third-seeded Purdue Boilermakers produced a 81-71 NCAA tournament victory over the Texas Longhorns at Milwaukee.

With the win, the Boilermakers (29-7) will move on to the Sweet 16 in the East region. Purdue will play 15th-seeded Saint Peter’s, of Jersey City, N.J., on Friday in Philadelphia.

The Longhorns were sparked all night by guard Marcus Carr until the Boilermakers started shading him with a second defender midway through the second half.

Hitting from the mid-range and from three, Carr produced 23 points and six assists to lead the Longhorns.

At the end, Carr became a distributor. He assisted on a couple of baskets in the final few minutes and then hit a three out of the corner with 1:30 remaining. His three sliced Purdue’s lead to three.

On the next possession, guard Jaden Ivey knocked down a long three from the top to push the Boilermakers up by six, 77-71, with a minute remaining.

Texas would get no closer the rest of the way.

The Horns (22-12) entered the tournament on a three-game losing streak. They had lost six of 11, including a loss to TCU in the Big 12 tournament.

Earning the sixth seed in the East, they were sent to Milwaukee, where they downed the Virginia Tech Hokies 81-73 in the first round. Against the Boilermakers, the Longhorns were looking for their first trip to the Sweet 16 since 2008.

“I’m just super proud of our guys,” Texas coach Chris Beard said. “It’s not all the normal coaching cliches, I really mean it. This group overcame a lot. Most of these guys recruited by Texas and us during the COVID. They didn’t take official visits.

“Four guys chose to stay. Other guys made the decision on Zoom calls and phone calls. They all came together and I thought (we) really had a good season. We came down here to win this tournament and came up a little bit short tonight, but never been more proud of a group.”