Congrats To Purdue

Purdue got knocked off last night by UConn in the Sweet 16, but kudos need to be handed out to Matt Painter's bunch for a fantastic season. Entering the tournament, they were one of the hottest teams, including a win of the Big Ten Tournament and for a while there, gave UConn a run for its money. In the end, Connecticut center Hasheem Thabeet was simply too much for Purdue.

Still, consider the circumstances. Robbie Hummel played nearly the entire second half of the season with a broken back and still didn't miss much of a beat (in March, anyway). He's Purdue's best player, but imagine what he could be doing if he were 100%. Is he a game-changer? Sure looked like it in the first half.

But this Purdue team has all major weapons coming back. Their six best players should come back next year and all they lose are bench contributors Marcus Green, Nemanja Calasan and Bobby Riddell. Replenishing the bench will need to be important for Matt Painter, but Hummel returns, as does E'Twaun Moore, Keaton Grant, Lewis Jackson, Chris Kramer and JaJuan Johnson. Should have the making for another serious contender next year.

Also, congrats are in order for Penn State for making the NIT Semifinals. They could have easily packed it in and not tried after being shut out of the NCAA Tournament but they came to play against George Mason, Rhode Island and Florida. They play Notre Dame Tuesday in the Garden.