Indianapolis, IN
Purdue's sweet, fabulous return to Indianapolis
Purdue’s sweet, fabulous return to Indianapolis
“It’s none of that,” Fletcher Loyer tells me after the game.
The question I’m asking, the thing I’m trying to figure out, still, about the make up of this team is if March vindication is still Purdue’s ethos. So the question is if getting back to the Sweet 16, if it’s like making a basket after scoring 21 points, if it’s a prove it point for Purdue.
Loyer’s answer is a simple one. Purdue doesn’t plan to prove itself by getting to the Sweet 16. Purdue plans to prove what it is by winning the Sweet 16 and then the next round, and the one after that, and that final one for good measure.
The one and only stage of college basketball that this set of Purdue players hasn’t won at.
It’s clear Purdue wants more and is playing well enough to have it after two convincing wins in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
Purdue’s preparation and offense set them up for success, two points of ‘fabulous’ from Painter
Purdue had less than 48 hours to prepare for a McNeese defense that held #5 seed Clemson to just 13 first half turnovers.
That was enough time for Purdue’s offensive coordinator, and former point guard, PJ Thompson, to build a game plan that used McNeese’s aggressiveness against itself.
The way I know this is it had head coach Matt Painter breaking out his favorite compliment.
“PJ did a fabulous job getting us prepared,” Painter said after the 76-62 Purdue win.
“I thought from watching them on film, they’ve unbelievable at what they do,” Thomspon told me after the game. “Interchangeable pieces, fly around, ultra-competitive, ultra tough, but what we noticed is a lot of people that play them – they struggle with movement. We tried to be deceptive. Being actors, not standing and watching, filling behind the ball, being available, and as Trey is posting, we have movement. Pinning guys in, and it’s really hard to take away both. Trey doesn’t have the size that we’ve had with the monsters in the past, but he’s unbelievable at using his body and he’s a load down there. When we moved the ball and made simple decisions, we made a lot of quality shots.”
It worked from the jump. On the first play, Purdue’s off ball movement moved any help inside and Fletcher Loyer was able to find Trey Kaufman-Renn half-fronted in the post. Kaufman-Renn caught the entry pass, turned, and had an open lane to go up and dunk.
On the next play, Kaufman-Renn found Loyer who moved to the right wing after Kaufman-Renn got into the paint. Loyer drained the open three-pointer.
A similar flurry of ball movement, repositioning, and patience led to one of the closing shots of the game that Painter pointed out after as the good things that came from Purdue’s game plan when CJ Cox hit his second three-pointer of the game that halted a micro-McNeese run.
Painter’s second fabulous
“Fabulous play,” Painter said after the game.
The play, a combined effort steal that saw Myles Colvin deflect a dribble, hit it again, and then Matt Painter’s star point guard, Braden Smith, sell out his entire body and somehow get a hand on the ball, knocking it backwards right into the waiting hands of Colvin who raced down court and drew a transition foul and two free throws.
“Just giving multiple effort, just making that play,” Painter said after the game about one of the defining plays of the game. “When he first did it, it almost looked like one of those fake hustle plays. Some guy’s diving, he has no chance to get to the ball and he makes the play. It was right in front of me. It’s coming right at me, it was like, that was my first instinct, like he can’t get there. And he obviously did. To have the intelligence and the toughness to make the play and save it towards his goal.”
The assist part of the play was a happy accident. After the game, Smith told me that he just knew the clock was going down and at worst, knocking it back wouldn’t reset the clock and force McNeese into a hurried shot or 30 second violation.
Instead, Smith’s deflection went rigth towards his teammate as Smith’s body spilled onto the floor right in front of his bench.
It was one of six steals as a team for Purdue whose
If Purdue’s trip in Providence has proven anything, it’s that when Purdue’s preparation meets execution and effort, Purdue’s play is fabulous and they’re going to be a hard out in the Sweet 16 no matter who they face between Houston and Gonzaga.
IndyGo serves 22,000 riders daily who rely on it for jobs and healthcare. The funding is voter-approved and separate from road budgets.
IndyGo paratransit services have possible 57% rate hike
Ryan Malone appreciates IndyGo paratransit rides. He has vision impairments and MS. He talks about the rides and the proposed 57% fare increase.
The April 14 letter titled, “Indianapolis doesn’t prioritize pothole repairs” raises a fair frustration shared by many drivers, but it misrepresents priorities, ignores dedicated funding streams, cherry-picks numbers and overlooks how IndyGo delivers broad, measurable value that helps roads and the city overall.
The 2026 Indianapolis city budget directs unprecedented funding to roads. The Department of Public Works’ most recent capital plan included $218 million for transportation infrastructure in 2026, in addition to key investments in additional snow removal and road maintenance equipment. DPW’s transportation capital funding has nearly tripled since 2016. Since that time, the city has resurfaced 1,279 lane miles and strip-patched 1,169 more.
The city is prioritizing basics; roads got a massive boost even with tighter revenues.
The state funding formula has disadvantaged Indianapolis by using two-lane road mileage and ignoring urban complexity. But House Enrolled Act 1461 shifts to a lane-mile formula and provides $50 million extra annually to Marion County — and state law restricts those funds to construction and reconstruction of local streets.
There are several points aimed at IndyGo that are worth correcting and adding important context the public should understand about this critical city service.
The claim that IndyGo’s $432 million budget “could go a long way toward streets” is the most misleading. The 0.25% income tax was voter-approved in 2016 — with nearly 60% voting yes — specifically and exclusively for public transit. These locally raised dollars leverage up to a 400% federal match, multiplying their impact several times over and ensuring Indianapolis captures funding that would otherwise go elsewhere. Diverting them would break a voter promise.
The “less than 2% uses the bus” stat is a classic distortion. IndyGo’s 2025 ridership included 6.7 million trips, or nearly 22,000 riders Monday through Friday. Transit serves disproportionately low-income, senior, disabled and car-free residents who rely on it for jobs, healthcare and school. It isn’t a luxury — it’s mobility infrastructure.
Public transit isn’t in competition with roads; it complements them. Every $1 invested in public transit generates $5 in broader economic activity. The Red Line alone delivered more than $7 per $1 invested, and IndyGo’s BRT network has already attracted more than $1.2 billion in corridor development.
By completion of the Blue Line, IndyGo will have paved more than 90 miles of Indy streets and built or repaired more than 1,300 ADA ramps. Nearly 7 million riders take cars off the road — fewer vehicles mean less congestion and less wear-and-tear on pavement, directly reducing potholes.
Potholes are real, but scapegoating IndyGo distracts from the actual balanced progress underway. Indianapolis is a world-class city with a great future, and the best is yet to come.
Richard Wilson is treasurer of the IndyGo Board of Directors.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WISH) — Purdue University has received a $20 million commitment from the Ricks Family Foundation to establish the Purdue Institute for Healthcare Systems Innovation at the Indianapolis campus.
The institute in the Mitch Daniels School of Business aims to improve health care efficiency and effectiveness, the university said in a news release issued Wednesday afternoon.
Dr. Christina Ricks and her husband, David A. Ricks, the chair and CEO of pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Co., are the primary leaders of the foundation.
James “Jim” Bullard, a dean for the Daniels School of Business, said in the release, “Considering the health care situation in the U.S. today, there is a clear need for rigorous, market-informed research that challenges conventional thinking and drives new solutions. This institute will allow Purdue to lead that work and make a lasting difference.”
As Purdue works to develop its relatively new Indianapolis campus, the university recently announced that plans for a 12-story apartment building on recently acquired canal property in Indianapolis are now on hold as the university develops its campus, Mirror Indy reported.
This story was formatted for WISHTV.com using AI-assisted tools. Our editorial team reviews and edits all content published to ensure it meets our journalistic standards for accuracy and fairness.
INDIANAPOLIS — A woman was critically injured in a shooting on the northeast side of Indianapolis Tuesday night.
According to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, officers were called to the 5500 block of East 41st Street around 8:45 p.m. to investigate a shooting. When police arrived at the scene, they located an adult female with injuries consistent with gunshot wounds.
Per IMPD, the victim was transported from the the scene to a local hospital in critical condition. Police reported that hospital staff later provided them with an update that indicated the victim remains in critical condition.
Investigators believe the shooting occurred inside a residence on 41st Street. One shell casing was found in the front yard of that residence near its driveway. Police do not believe that stray shell casing is related to the shooting in any way.
Law enforcement detained a person of interest during its investigation of the shooting. IMPD has not yet provided any of the detainee’s identifying information like sex, age or name.
Police do not believe the shooting poses any ongoing threat to the public. Investigators are, however, still encouraging area residents to call IMPD at (317) 327-3475 or Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at (317) 262-8477 to pass along any information they may have on the shooting.
-
Culture11 minutes agoBook Review: ‘Cave Mountain,’ by Benjamin Hale
-
Lifestyle17 minutes agoMichaela Jaé Rodriguez’s Necklace Gives her Peace
-
Education23 minutes agoThey Left for the School Bus. ICE Picked Them Up Instead.
-
Technology29 minutes agoNow California’s cops can give tickets to driverless cars
-
World35 minutes agoRubio warns China after Panama ship detentions, calls hemisphere sovereignty ‘non-negotiable’
-
Politics41 minutes agoHouse Republicans splinter over pesticide provision in farm bill as MAHA movement flexes its muscle
-
Health47 minutes agoEarly Parkinson’s warning signs may be hiding in the gut, study finds
-
Sports53 minutes agoDrake Maye voices support for Patriots coach Mike Vrabel as off-field controversy continues to swirl