With Purdue rolling and Iowa State reeling in their NCAA Tournament game Saturday night, Boilermakers coach Matt Painter decided he could afford to give star forward Caleb Swanigan some rest.
Boy, did that backfire. Iowa State came to life in Swanigan’s absence, cutting a 14-point deficit to three with about eight minutes remaining. The Cyclones trailed by as many as 19 in the second half.
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The Boilermakers recovered down the stretch behind Swanigan and survived the second round, 80-76. Purdue is in the Sweet 16 for the first time in seven years. It will play the winner of Sunday's Kansas-Michigan State game.
Before his nearly four-minute absence, Swanigan was on his way to a triple-double. He finished three assists shy of becoming just the eighth player to record a triple-double in the NCAA Tournament, and the first to do so since Michigan State's Draymond Green in 2012.
Swanigan finished with 20 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists. He has 28 double-doubles on the season. Purdue’s Vince Edwards also recorded a double-double with 21 points and 10 boards.
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Even after Swanigan returned to the floor, Iowa State took the lead with 3:11 to go on two Deonte Burton free throws. Purdue’s P.J. Thompson answered with a 3-pointer to give the Boilermakers the lead for good.
Burton, Thomas and Monte Morris combined for 64 of the Cyclones' 76 points.
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