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GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 26 • 4 LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A.J. Hammons, so long followed around by an "apathy" la- bel of dubious legitimacy, looked torn up like confetti emotionally. Vince Edwards, his whole career the "coolest" player on the floor, looked raw and puffy-faced. Jon Octeus' face kind of quivered when fielding a certain question to which he never could muster an an- swer, just prolonged silence. Rapheal Davis, well, I'd describe his face, but I never actually saw it. It was buried between his knees in what very well might have been a pool of tears and perhaps some vomit residue after a loss that literally made him sick. This was the scene in the Boil- ermakers' embarrassingly small KFC Yum! Center locker room after a 66- 65 overtime loss to an inferior Cin- cinnati team, a loss so strange in its development that it was almost too much so to believe. It ended a season of such exhila- ration on a sickening note. And the worst part in that lock- er room was not that it was over so much as it was that Purdue had no one to blame but itself. Granted, Cincinnati kicked the door in by mak- ing three big shots in the fi- nal 48 seconds of regulation after trailing by what should have been an insurmount- able margin of seven. But it was the Boiler- makers themselves who un- did the deadbolt. Missed free throws at the worst possible time, an untimely defensive gaffe, a critical turnover of a familiar variety on an in-bounds pass and a missed dunk in overtime joined forc- es with atrocious three-point shoot- ing and a physics-defying, buzzer- beating roll for the Bearcats to end Purdue's season in a way that sent the agony quotient through the roof. Purdue should have won. Hell, Purdue did win. A seven- point lead with 48 seconds left trans- lates to game over provided the team with said lead executes a series of very basic things from there on out. Purdue did not and lost because of it. You know, Purdue stole a game at Penn State many weeks ago. It was like fate was sitting back in the bushes just waiting to even the score, striking when it matters most. Ball don't lie, as the kids nowadays say. Purdue's emotions afterward were not tied to what might have been, but what should have been. That locker room was not the time nor the place for perspective, not the moment for those devastated players to see the forest for the trees. But perhaps by now, days later, some of them have, coming to grasp all that was accomplished this sea - son and taking some pride in getting Purdue's stumbling program back on sound footing after a year spent on the mat, with the best perhaps to come. Purdue's team could look very different — for better or worse — in coming months, but there's a rock- solid foundation in place for seasons to come, with this season serving to re-establish the foundation that prior teams and personalities had allowed to erode. This team this year wasn't deci - sively more physically talented than either of the past two, but it was the total antithesis of those teams in its ability to function, co-exist and act like young adults instead of utter children. A team nothing was expected of back in the fall, nor should there have been, righted its ship. It's a credit to Matt Painter and his staff, but more so to the players, the guys who bought in and took personal pride in chang- ing their place in the college basket- ball world. That's a credit to Davis and Ham- mons and the significant improve- ment they made from one year to the next, improvement in all its forms. It's a credit to Octeus, a gift from above, quite honestly. And it's a credit to a freshman class that came in with not only outstanding potential but a cer- tain it factor that'll buoy Purdue for years to come. It was a great season. It might not have felt like it in those ground-zero postgame mo- ments, but perhaps by now perspec- tive has been gained. j Neubert can be contacted at BNeubert@GoldandBlack.com F R O M E D I T O R B R I A N N E U B E R T Great Season Ends Honor Your 2014-15 Boilers at the Purdue Basketball Postseason Banquets Sponsored by 2015 Women's Basketball Postseason Dinner: Tuesday, March 31, 2015, 6:30 p.m. Purdue Memorial Union 2015 Men's Basketball Postseason Banquet: Wednesday, April 8, 2015, 6:30 p.m. Purdue Memorial Union Ticket applications available through Intercollegiate Athletics Ticket Office. Call 1-800-49-Sport or 1-765-494-3194