| WEEKEND STREAMING GUIDE (all times ET) |
| Men's Basketball |
| Friday / 9:57 p.m. / Texas Tech / NCAA.com |
| Men's Swimming & Diving |
| Friday / 11 a.m. / NCAA Championships / BTN Plus |
| Friday / 7 p.m. / NCAA Championships / WatchESPN |
| Saturday / 11 a.m. / NCAA Championships / BTN Plus |
| Saturday / 7 p.m. / NCAA Championships / WatchESPN |
| Baseball |
| Friday / 2 p.m. / Lipscomb / BTN Plus |
| Friday / 5:30 p.m. / Lipscomb / BTN Plus |
| Saturday / 1 p.m. / Lipscomb / BTN Plus |
| Softball |
| Friday / 4 p.m. / Illinois / BTN Plus |
| Friday / 6 p.m. / Illinois / BTN Plus |
| Women's Tennis |
| Friday / 3 p.m. / Wisconsin / PurdueSports.com |
By Tom Schott
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue is the only school in the country to make back-to-back NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Sweet 16 appearances with a football bowl game victory in between.
Only four schools that won a bowl game in 2017-18 have advanced to the Sweet 16 this year: Purdue, Duke, Florida State and Kansas State.
Men's basketball (30-6), which set the school season wins record with its NCAA Tournament second-round victory over Butler, takes on Texas Tech (26-9) in the East Regional semifinals Friday at approximately 10 p.m. ET in Boston. The game will be televised by TBS.
The Boilermakers are the No. 2 seed, while the Raiders are the No. 3 seed.
The other East Regional semifinal features top-seeded Villanova and fifth-seeded West Virginia. The winners meet Sunday at either 2:20 or 5:05 p.m., with a trip to the Final Four at stake.
The John Purdue Club and the Purdue Alumni Association are in Beantown and invite all Boilermakers to a pregame gathering at Boston Sports Grille (132 Canal Street). The event begins at 6:30 p.m. and will continue during and after the game.
For all the latest on the Boilermakers in the "Big Dance," click here.
Meanwhile, sophomore guard Carson Edwards earned second team All-American honors from the National Basketball Coaches Association.
Johnson Runner-up on 1-Meter at NCAAs
Redshirt junior Steele Johnson was runner-up on 1-meter diving to realize All-American honors at the NCAA Men's Swimming & Diving Championships on Thursday in Minneapolis.
It marked Johnson's sixth career top-two finish at NCAAs and seventh lifetime All-American performance.
Junior Joe Cifelli qualified for the consolation final of 1-meter diving, finished 16th overall and was an honorable mention All-American.
The Boilermakers are tied for 19th place in the team scoring with 18 points.
The NCAAs continue Friday. Senior Marat Amaltdinov will compete in the 100 breaststroke and Cifelli and Johnson on 3-meter diving. Amaltdinov will swim the 200 breaststroke Saturday, while Johnson and sophomore Brandon Loschiavo will compete in platform diving.
Women's Swimming & Diving 19th at NCAAs
Senior Kaersten Meitz, sophomore Jinq En Phee and junior Lexi Vincent earned All-American honors to lead women's swimming & diving to 19th place at the NCAA Women's Swimming & Diving Championships, which concluded March 17 in Columbus, Ohio.
Vincent finished fourth in platform diving (297.90), Meitz fifth in the 500 butterfly (4:36.83) and Phee eighth in the 100 breaststroke (career-best 59.32) to give the Boilermakers three full-fledged All-Americans for the second time in school history (also 2010).
Meitz also was an honorable mention All-American in the 1,650 freestyle, as were junior Morgan Meixner and senior Samm Reese on 1-meter diving.
The Boilermakers tied for their third-best showing in school annals. Purdue was 16th in 2010 and 17th in 2005, hosting NCAAs both years. The Boilermakers finished among the top 25 for the 10th time in the last 14 years.
Carlson Medalist
Senior Brian Carlson won the second individual title of his career, leading men's golf to sixth place at the John Hayt Invitational on March 19 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. He subsequently was named Big Ten Golfer of the Week.
Carlson totaled a 9-under par 207 (67-70-70), the ninth-lowest score in school history. He is the first Boilermaker to have three scores of 207 or lower during his career.
Carlson previously was the medalist at the Windon Memorial Classic as a sophomore.
The Boilermakers totaled a 54-hole tally of 8-over par 872 (298-288-286). They bettered three top-50 programs - No. 25 North Florida, No. 39 Louisville and No. 49 Tennessee - to finish in the top half of a strong field.
Purdue is back in action April 14 and 15, hosting the Boilermaker Invitational at the Kampen Course.
Softball, Baseball Home Openers
Softball (7-22, 1-0 B1G) won its home and Big Ten Conference opener Thursday, handling Illinois 6-3 at Bittinger Stadium.
Junior first baseman Mallory Baker and junior third baseman Jenny Behan belted fourth-inning home runs to power Purdue.
The Boilermakers and the Fighting Illini (19-10, 0-1) are scheduled to play a doubleheader Friday beginning at 4 p.m. ET.
Baseball (9-9) plays its home opener Friday with a doubleheader against Lipscomb (9-12). First pitch of the first game is set for 2 p.m. The Boilermakers and the Bisons conclude their three-game series Saturday at 1 p.m.
Winter Academic All-Big Ten Honors
Sixty-two Purdue winter sports student-athletes have been named Academic All-Big Ten. To be eligible for the honor, individuals must be in at least their second academic year at their institution and carry a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or higher. Among Purdue teams, women's swimming & diving led the way with 27 selections, followed by men's swimming & diving (18), wrestling (8), men's basketball (5), and women's basketball (4).
Combined with 60 fall sport honorees, a total of 122 Boilermakers have achieved Academic All-Big Ten recognition for the 2017-18 school year.
Golden Pete Awards Set for April 23
One of the most-anticipated and talked-about events of the year for Purdue Athletics - the Golden Pete Awards show - is on the horizon.
The sixth-annual artful blend of accomplishment and fun that celebrates the achievements of Boilermaker student-athletes for the past 12 months is scheduled for Monday, April 23, beginning at 6:30 p.m., at Holloway Gymnasium on campus.
And, once again, it is exclusive to John Purdue Club and Varsity P Club members.
In addition to presenting traditional honors like the Big Ten Medal of Honor, Distinguished Scholar Athlete Award, Varsity Walk Award, Wooden Leadership Institute Certificate of Achievement and BLAST Certificate of Achievement, Golden Petes will be presented in the following nine categories: Male Breakout of the Year, Female Breakout of the Year; Coach of the Year; Male Individual Performance, Single Event; Female Individual Performance, Single Event; Male Performance of the Year; Female Performance of the Year; Team Performance, Single Event; and Team of the Year. A countdown of the top 10 plays of the year will be highlighted throughout the festivities.
The Golden Pete Awards show also serves as a senior sendoff to Purdue student-athletes and those students who are involved in behind-the-scenes roles.
New this year will be dinner catered by the Beef House.
The Golden Pete Awards show is hosted by the John Purdue Club and the Varsity P Club.
John Purdue Club members are asked to RSVP by April 16 by calling 765.494.3248 or by clicking here.
Attire for the event is dressy casual.
Etcetera
Wrestling finished 28th at the NCAA Championships on March 17, its best showing since 2012 ... Women's basketball advanced to the Sweet 16 of the WNIT, finishing the season with a 20-14 record ... Seniors Symone Black and Savannah Carson were named Big Ten Track Athlete of the Week and Big Ten Field Athlete of the Week for their performances at the UTSA Invitational on March 16 and 17. In the early going of the outdoor season, Black owns the country's fastest 400-meter hurdles time (57.87 seconds), while Carson has the nation's leading wind-legal (+1.3) long jump mark of 6.34 meters (20-feet, 9.75-inches) ... No. 25 women's golf plays at the Clemson Invitational on Friday through Sunday. Sophomore Micaela Farah has posted team-low scores in two of the last three tournaments ... Both tennis teams continue Big Ten play this weekend. The women (7-7, 0-2 B1G) welcome Wisconsin (8-7, 2-1) to the Schwartz Tennis Center on Friday at 3 p.m. ET and travel to Michigan (6-8, 2-0) on Sunday. The men (8-8, 0-1) visit Illinois (10-5, 1-0) on Sunday ... Soccer plays host to Notre Dame on Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET at Folk Field in spring action ... Recent Purdue Athletics hires include Corey Smith as an athletic trainer and Kevin Haas as athletics information systems specialist.