In the words of Bill S. Preston Esq. and Ted Theodore Logan: “69 dude.” At the end of regulation, that was the tied score between #4 Purdue and #17 Illini basketball. In order to get there, the Boilermakers blew a 65-58 lead, when 12th year senior (not literally, but that is what it feels like at this point) Sasha Stefanovic hit a big three with 2:47 left in the regulation.

The Boilers biggest lead was 13, as they took a 37-26 lead into the second half. They did not trail after the 4:05 mark in the first time OT. The final score read 96-88 Purdue, with the visitors getting the signature road W after not one, but two overtimes.

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Monday morning sees the #7 Purdue Boilermakers visit #25 Illini basketball in a match-up of, arguably, the two best programs never to have won a National Title. How does one get to that point, you ask? By being dominant in conference play, but totally flopping in March. Of all that Purdue (13-2, 2-2 in the Big Ten) and Illinois (12-3, 5-0 in conference) have in common, these two patterns stand out the most.

Until 2019, Purdue hadn’t been to an Elite 8 since 2000. They still haven’t reached a Final Four since 1980. As for Illinois, they haven’t reached the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament since 2005. Meanwhile Illini basketball is totally snake-bitten by the second round, having been eliminated in round of 32 in 9/18 appearances; exactly half.

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