Oscar Cluff's Wide Range of Emotion in Final 12 Seconds of Purdue's Sweet 16 Win
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When Oscar Cluff walked to Purdue's bench with 11.9 seconds left in Thursday night's Sweet 16 game against Texas, he may have felt the lowest he's ever felt in his basketball career. He had picked up his fifth foul on a Dailyn Swain drive to the basket, allowing the Longhorns to tie the game at 77-77 in the closing moments of the second half.
It's funny how quickly emotions can change in the matter of 12 seconds in a college basketball game.
Cluff carried the guilt of giving up an old-fashioned three-point play to the bench with him. That feeling soon morphed into overwhelming joy, as the center watched Trey Kaufman-Renn get a tip-in bucket off a Braden Smith miss to secure a 79-77 victory and advance to the Elite Eight.
"I was s----ing bricks. I got that foul and that was the last thing I wanted to do," Cluff told ISC Purdue. "Oh man, when he got that tip-in, it felt great ... it was the best feeling."
TREY KAUFMAN-RENN WINS IT!
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 27, 2026
PURDUE IS MOVING ON! pic.twitter.com/8Bsd4uxvtj
Cluff struggled to find a rhythm early in Thursday night's game against Texas. The 6-foot-11 center ended the first half without scoring any points and had just one rebound. He picked up two fouls and was unable to make much of an impact in the first 20 minutes.
That changed in the second half. Cluff played much better, going 4-of-5 in the second half and finishing the game with 11 points, six rebounds and two assists. All of that was almost overlooked because of an unwanted foul at the end of the game.
Fortunately for Cluff, Kaufman-Renn was in the right place at the right time and Purdue lived to play another day.
"He saved my a-- big time," Cluff told WISH-TV. "It was awesome. He's such a good player."
Cluff giving Purdue solid minutes in NCAA Tournament
With Kaufman-Renn taking over in the post offensively in recent weeks, Purdue hasn't needed Cluff to score at a high level. Still, he's continued to provide the Boilermakers with quality minutes on both ends of the floor.
Cluff scored nine points, grabbed 11 rebounds, dished out five assists and blocked four shots in Purdue's blowout win over Queens in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. He followed that up with eight points, seven rebounds, three steals, two assists and two blocks in a second-round victory over Miami.
The combination of Cluff and Kaufman-Renn in the frontcourt has caused problems for opponents in this tournament. Saturday's Elite Eight game against Arizona is going to be a different animal, though.
Purdue will need the physicality of both Cluff and Kaufman-Renn from start to finish if it hopes to play in its second Final Four in three years.
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Dustin Schutte is the publisher of Purdue Boilermakers on SI and has spent more than a decade working in sports journalism. His career began in 2013, when he covered Big Ten football. He remained in that role for eight years before working at On SI to cover the Boilermakers. Dustin graduated from Manchester University in Indiana in 2010, where he played for the men's tennis team.
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