During Saturday afternoon’s Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal matchup between the Purdue Boilermakers and the Ohio State Buckeyes, Purdue ultimately got the better of the Buckeyes, ending their improbable run through the conference tournament and likely ending their season. But Purdue head coach Matt Painter thinks Ohio State is a very talented team and has a bright future.
During his postgame press conference, Painter revealed that Purdue is lucky they played Ohio State when the Buckeyes were tired from playing three previous games.
“This is Ohio State’s fourth game. This is our second game in as many days. I think it kind of showed there,” Painter said. “But you can kind of see the heart of Ohio State, and those guys really played well in this tournament. We were fortunate to play them after they’ve already played three games and we’ve only played one.”
Painter also said that with the talent the Buckeyes return next season and the incoming freshman class, Ohio State has a bright future.
“I think you can see the future of Ohio State with (Felix) Okpara, (Roddy) Gayle, and Bruce Thornton. They’ve got a great class coming, and they’ve got a great coach,” Painter said. “They lost a lot of close games this year, and some people got them. But I think you can see the future of Ohio State and how good they’re going to be.”
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