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GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 25 • 1 BY BRIAN NEUBERT BNeubert@GoldandBlack.com P urdue started the season off well enough, playing well at the Maui Invitational as part of a 7-1 start to this transitional season. Then, things went sideways. When the Boilermakers were 8-5 at the end of the non-conference season, loser of their fi- nal three games, the NCAA Tournament looked like a pipe dream. "Coach always told us, 'We need to get go- ing and we need to get going now,' " junior Ra- pheal Davis said. "It came to Big Ten (play) and we took off from there." Twelve conference wins later, plus one in the Big Ten Tournament, Purdue's back where it's historically felt it belongs, returning to the Field of 68 after a most-unwel- come two-year hiatus. Sunday evening, the Boil- ermakers were assigned the No. 9 seed in the Midwest Region, matched with eighth-seeded Cin- cinnati Thursday at 7:10 p.m. in Louisville's KFC Yum! Center. Should Purdue beat the Bearcats and extend its run of NCAA tourney appearances in which it's won at least one game to 15, it would face unbeaten Kentucky (barring a historic up- set against either Manhattan or Hampton) Saturday. For Davis, this has been a long time coming. The Boilermaker captain com- mitted to Purdue as a high school sophomore while the program was in the midst of a run of six straight bids. Davis told senior Jon Octeus before the Selection Show that he'd probably cry. He didn't but was emotional nonetheless. "I had mixed feelings all day," he said. "Work- ing so hard for two-and-a-half years just to get to this moment and have the opportunity to have your name called, it was big. It was probably one of the top five exciting moments of my life, to be able to be around my teammates and just share the experience with them, to see your name for something you worked really hard for and have it come all together. "It's my first NCAA Tournament, (A.J. Ham- mons') first, our whole team's first except for (Oc- teus) and (Neal Beshears). There was excitement in the room and one of those things where you just had to be there." Purdue coach Matt Painter said NCAA Tour- nament experience does matter. Nerves, he says, can come into play, though he said he's never had a team adversely affected by such things. He'll hope this one isn't the first. Octeus is the lone Boilermaker to have played in an NCAA Tournament game, doing so with Colorado State in 2013. Then, the point guard was a key contributor for the Rams. Tom Campbell A.J. Hammons and Isaac Haas will make their first NCAA Tournament appear- ance for Purdue on Thursday against Cincinnati in Louisville. 5-1 Purdue's record in the state of Kentucky in the NCAA Tour- nament. The Boilermakers played in the 1969 Final Four in Louisville, won the 1980 Mideast Regional in Lexing- ton and went 2-0 in '94 in Rupp Arena. 1993 The last year Purdue was defeated in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. The Boilermakers have won 14 straight opening games. 21 Consecutive postseason trips by Purdue, including 20 to the NCAA Tournament, broken this season. Women's NCAA selection is Mon- day night. 2 Games of NCAA Tournament experi- ence for the Boilermakers, both by senior Jon Octeus while at Colorado State. The guard played Missouri and Lou- isville in two games in the 2012-13 season. THE NUMBERS VOLUME 25, EX 25 • MARCH 16, 2015 Inside | NCAA tourney bound 6-16 Football notes 20–21 | Recruiting 22-23 Women's basketball notebook 24-25 Back In The Field Tourney Time Opponent: Cincinnati Location: Louisville (KFC Yum! Center) Time: 7:10 p.m. ET Thursday TV: CBS Ticket information: Go to PurdueSports. com (or click here) for more details.