GBI Express

The Authority on Purdue Athletics volume 22, EX 26 • march 20, 2012 In this issue: utter agony • Page 2: Women Upset In Round 2 • Pages 6-10: Men's NCAA Coverage • Pages 16-23: Women's NCAA Coverage Boilermakers' season ends in gut-wrenching fashion BY BRIAN NEUBERT BNeubert@GoldandBlack.com OMAHA — When Robbie Hummel and Lewis Jackson left their locker room to head to a postgame press conference in which they'd be asked to put into words the anguish of their career-ending loss to Kansas, they walked slowly down a long hallway in each other's arms, symbolizing both the two seniors' togetherness and their unwillingness to let go. But following the Boilermakers' agonizing 63-60 loss to the sixth-ranked Jayhawks, they have no choice but to let go. It's all over. "It'll probably take me 'til the (postseason) banquet at least (to get over it)," Jackson said. "I guess I'm a Kansas fan right now. I'm going to cheer for them to go as far as they can. I guess maybe that might make me feel a little bit better. "But to be that close ... it's going to take a while to get over." Purdue, the No. 10 seed in the Midwest Regional, led the second-seeded Jayhawks for nearly 40 minutes, playing in front an overwhelmingly pro-Kansas crowd. But a couple of ill-fated offensive possessions for the Boilermakers in the closing minutes led to a trio of easy transition baskets and a GBIprint.com GoldandBlack.com heroic against Kansas, scoring 26 points and becoming the buzz of the college basketball world while pouring in 22 in the first half alone. "That's the type of player he is," Johnson said. "He always lays it on the line and he did that tonight." In time, maybe Hummel will come to appreciate his performance against Kansas, no matter the result. He was in no mood, though, to talk much about himself afterwards. "I'm still in shock from the game," Hummel Tom Campbell said in the locker room afRobbie Hummel walks off the court for the final time as a Boilermaker after a loss to Kansas. He gave all he had — with 26 points and nine rebounds — but Purdue came up just short. terward, his eyes raw and puffy. "Our team believed three-point lead for Kansas. prodding the Boilermakers along to we were going to win. It just sucks. That Ryne Smith's running 30- Game 2, "but I feel like we played I don't even know what to say at footer to tie it at the buzzer caught hard and left it all out there." this point." backboard, then rim, served only No one left more of himself There wasn't much to say after as one last turn of the knife for a on the CenturyLink Center harda team that at one point in the seaPurdue team that had to battle its wood than Hummel, who finished son was 15-9 with very few quality way into the NCAA Tournament, a brilliant, but turbulent, career, wins came seconds from a Round then nearly advanced to its second with a brilliant, but turbulent, of 16 meeting with North Carolina weekend. performance. State, an 11 seed, in St. Louis, fin"It's tough to think about and Playing at a level logic would ishing 22-13 and winning its 14th it'll be tough to sleep tonight af- suggest a survivor of two major consecutive opening-round NCAA ter this," said guard Terone John- knee injuries would never again Tournament game with its 72-69 son, whose 21 points against Saint reach, college basketball's foremost win over the seventh-seeded Gaels Mary's went a long way toward tragic hero was nothing short of Friday night. "I love the effort our team gave and I'm proud of our team and what we did," Hummel said. "It's not like I'm disappointed in our team for losing that game. Kansas is very good. We were just a play or two short." The loss hit everyone like a sledgehammer to the face, from the coaches on down to the players, but no one felt the hurt more than the Boilermakers' three seniors: Hummel, Jackson and Ryne Smith. "They'll be able to reflect in time, but this one will sit with them," Coach Matt Painter said. "Every player who goes out and competes, especially guys who had great careers like they did, you always remember that last game, especially when it's a loss." Smith was a stone wall of stoicism while answering reporters' questions in the locker room a short time after his impossible game-tying runner caromed off the iron. When the questions ended, however, the façade came down and his emotions overcame him. "It's been a phenomenal ride, just unbelievable," he said. "I leave with no regrets. "These past four years have been the best of my life." j Gold & Black IllustrateD • volume 22, express 26  •  1

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