Matt Painter wins 500th at Purdue as Boilermakers advance

Purdue beat Miami 79-69 in the NCAA tournament, giving Painter his 500th win at Purdue and sending the Boilermakers to the Sweet 16.

"These guys -- I know coaches talk about it -- but they've put in so much in all areas to be the best they can be," Painter said after the game.

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Purdue will face No. 11 seed Texas on Thursday night in the West Region semifinals in San Jose, California.

Painter's career record stands at 525-328, including a 25-5 season at Southern Illinois when he was voted Missouri Valley coach of the year.

He succeeded Gene Keady as Purdue's head coach, taking over for good for the 2005-06 season after a transitional year as associate head coach.

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The Boilermakers won just nine games in Painter's first year, but built a program that has produced six straight NCAA tournament appearances with at least one win each year.

Their current streak is 11 straight NCAA tournament appearances, which includes seven trips through the opening weekend, an Elite Eight appearance in 2019, and the Boilermakers' first national championship game since 1969 just two years ago.

The Final Four will be played in Indianapolis.

With Braden Smith, the NCAA's career assists king, and veterans Fletcher Loyer and Trey Kaufman-Renn, Purdue remains a strong title contender this season.

Painter needs just 12 more wins to match Keady for the most in school history.

Painter was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and grew up in Muncie in the days when Bob Knight had the Hoosiers humming like a college basketball juggernaut.

"I know that's sacrilegious now," Painter said with a smile.

He rooted for Purdue as a youngster, played four years as a point guard for Gene Keady, and eventually succeeded him as head coach.

He recalls Knight's 1975-76 Indiana title, NC State's 1983 triumph, and Georgetown in the Patrick Ewing era, and describes growing up watching the Big Ten before cable, when the Big Ten Channel 4 was the lone source for games.