GLENDALE, Ariz. – Paxton resident Andy Hudson attended the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Final Four last weekend.
Hudson watched as his beloved Purdue Boilermakers reached the national championship game with a 63-50 win over North Carolina State in the semifinals on Saturday. Purdue lost 75-60 to the University of Connecticut in the title game on Monday.
Hudson was one of more than 68,000 in attendance for the semifinal game. He met with five friends from Purdue’s pharmacy school for dinner the following night.
“It’s packed, but we sat far away,” Hudson said. “Once you get used to the distance, it’s OK. There were a lot of pregame festivities with each team having a ‘home’ bar.”
Purdue was making its first Final Four appearance since 1980. Hudson says he is not old enough to remember the 1980 Final Four run.
“People should understand the suffering that Purdue fans have gone through the last 44 years,” Hudson said. “Since that time, we have had nothing but heartbreak. Injuries, close losses, and teams choking have kept us from making it to the Final Four.”
Purdue was eliminated in five overtime losses in that stretch, two of which were double overtime losses.
In the 1980s, Purdue had to play on the opposition’s home court twice, despite being the higher seed.
“I know Illinois had to do this as well,” Hudson said.
In 1990, the Boilermakers wone more than 30 games. Along with his family, Hudson traveled to Indianapolis for the opening round.
Purdue squeaked by Louisiana Monroe in the first round and lost on a last-second layup to Texas as a No. 2 seed.
“I was almost in tears on the way home,” Hudson said.
When Hudson was in college, Purdue had Glenn Robinson, whom Hudson called “one of the best college players of all time.”
The Boilermakers steamrolled Kansas as a No. 1 seed and played Grant Hill and Duke next. Hudson’s parents went to Knoxville to watch the game.
Robinson had averaged over 30 points, but only had eight that game.
“Come to find out years later, he had been wrestling with a teammate in the hotel room the night before and hurt his back,” Hudson said.
In 1998, Hudson went with his father, Carl, to St. Louis to see Purdue lose to Stanford.
“Purdue had a great team with NBA talent Brad Miller and Brian Cardinal,” Hudson said. “Stanford bloodied Brad Miller’s face three times in what was one of the roughest games ever played in the tournament.
“We looked like a final four team in 2011 and 2012 and Robbie Hummel tore his ACL both years. Also, in 2018, our star center Isaac Haas broke his elbow in the first round.”
Hudson recalls 2019 as “the toughest loss.”
The Boilermakers were ahead by three points against Virginia with a few seconds left.
“We fouled them. They made one free throw, got the rebound off the second and made a miraculous shot to win the game,” Hudson said. I was also there to see two of the three losses the last three years to double digit seeds. Very disappointing.”
During Purdue’s Final Four drought, Hudson saw Illinois make two appearances in the Final Four.
“I was happy for them, but there was some envy on my part since we never reached that point,” Hudson said.
As a Cubs fan, Hudson has had a taste of success due to the Cubs winning the World Series in 2016.
“As a lifelong Cubs fan and Purdue fan, it is exciting to see the Cubs win the World Series in my lifetime and now for Purdue to go to the Final Four,” Hudson said.
