Matt Painter just one difficult win from a career-defining Final Four

DETROIT — Tom Izzo fawned over the Purdue basketball program and the job Matt Painter has done constructing a consistent winner.

Michigan State had just fought back but, like every other opponent that visited Mackey Arena this season, couldn’t get the better of the Boilermakers.

Izzo is calling Purdue the best team in the country, even in comparison to, of all teams, Tennessee. He’s pleading with media members who cover the Boilermakers to cherish Matt Painter.

‘Don’t worry about how many Final Fours he gets,’ said Izzo, who has been to eight Final Fours. ‘He wins a lot of games. He does it the right way. He’s a hell of a coach.’

Painter, though, knows the deal.

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Coaches are ultimately judged by NCAA Tournament success. He saw it happen with his college coach, Gene Keady, who only got as far at the Elite Eight on two occasions.

And here sits Painter, one win away from his first Final Four, doing what Painter does, telling it like it is on the cusp of a moment Boilermaker fans have waited 44 years for.

‘We’ve been undefeated non-conference for three straight years and have one of the best schedules in the country,’ Painter said. ‘We’ve won our league by three games in back-to-back years. For the people that compete, the players and coaches, those things do matter.

‘The No. 1 thing is how you play in the tournament. We’ve played well so far, but hopefully this is just a start for us.’

Purdue isn’t entering uncharted waters.

Painter was at this same point five years ago.

He still thinks about that, how his team did almost everything right, and it wasn’t enough as Virginia did a little bit more right to beat Purdue in overtime.

And yet, asked about if that loss still haunts him, Painter gave a response few others would.

‘Yeah, that was tough, but I was still happy for (Virginia coach) Tony Bennett,’ Painter said. ‘It stunk that we couldn’t do it, but I was happy. If it was going to be anybody, I was glad it was him and the way he’s operated and the way he’s done things, he’s been great for college basketball.’

Sound familiar?

Izzo was saying those same things about Painter nearly four weeks ago.

You know how that Virginia story ended. A No. 1 seed loses to a 16. The team comes back strong, again earns a No. 1 seed and wins the national championship.

Hmmm.

If the weight of that is on Purdue’s shoulders, no one is showing it.

Of course, the Boilermakers know what’s at stake.

‘It’s not other games,’ Purdue’s star Zach Edey said Saturday. ‘You can’t treat it like that obviously, but it’s still just basketball. Rules are the same as every game we’ve played.’

It’s not other games.

Painter has won 470 times as a Division I head coach and what you hear a lot is about the game(s) he hasn’t.

Sunday is huge for Purdue and Painter.

A win can change the perception of Boilermaker basketball in the public eye.

‘Oh it would be huge,’ Painter admits on Saturday. ‘It’s been our goal to win a national championship.

‘We feel like we’re halfway there.’