How did Purdue beat Texas 79-77?
Trey Kaufman-Renn’s tip-in sends Purdue to Elite Eight
Purdue advanced to the Elite Eight by beating Texas 79-77 in the Sweet 16, with Trey Kaufman-Renn tipping in a miss with 0.7 seconds remaining. The finish crowned a tense, defense-heavy game that came down to execution in the last possession.
Texas was trying to keep the game alive late while Purdue protected enough of the margin to force a final, high-pressure play. With time nearly expired, Purdue got the ball to the area where it could attack the rebound. Kaufman-Renn’s intervention—scoring on a tip-in of a Braden Smith miss—sealed the outcome and erased any remaining hope for a Texas comeback.
The implications are straightforward: Purdue is moving on after a second-week performance that again demonstrated the team’s late-game effectiveness. In the Sweet 16, the margin wasn’t just points—it was seconds, decision-making, and whether the ball could come off a miss into a scoring position.
What made the finish matter
- A 0.7-second tip-in: the game-winning basket came off a rebound at the buzzer window.
- Preserved Purdue’s run: the Boilermakers were already established as a high-end Sweet 16 team, and this result extends that momentum.
- Texas’ star status tested late: Texas had an impact player late in the sequence, but Purdue’s response ended the scoring threat.
Final
- Purdue 79, Texas 77
- Game-winning play: Kaufman-Renn tip-in with 0.7 seconds left
For March Madness, that kind of late, single-moment strike is the kind of win that both builds confidence and tightens the spotlight on what Purdue does best—turning late possessions into points, even when games are close enough to require luck and hustle.