INDIANAPOLIS — Danny Sprinkle and No. 8 seed Utah State saw their NCAA tournament stay come to an end Sunday in a 106-67 loss to No. 1 seed Purdue in a Midwest Region second-round game.
Zach Edey, a 7-foot-4 All-American, had a double double with 23 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Boilermakers into the Sweet 16, where they will face No. 5 seed Gonzaga.
Trey Kaufman-Renn had 18 points and eight rebounds and Fletcher Loyer contributed 15 points and six assists for Purdue.
Sprinkle, a Helena High grad and a former Montana State coach and standout player, guided Utah State to a 28-7 record in his first season as the Aggies' coach, including a Mountain West regular-season championship.
Two former Montana State standouts who transferred to Utah State when Sprinkle was hired had impacts for the Aggies. Great Osobor finished with 14 points and six rebounds, and Darius Brown II had 12 points and four assists.
Sprinkle and Utah State beat No. 9 seed TCU 88-72 in a first-round on Friday. The victory snapped Utah State's 10-game NCAA tournament losing streak and broke a string of 19 losses in its previous 20 appearances.
It was Sprinkle's third consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament as a head coach. He guided Montana State to the Big Dance with consecutive Big Sky Conference championships in 2022 and 2023; the Bobcats lost in the first round in both years as a 14 seed.
As a freshman guard in 1996, Sprinkle helped Montana State reach the NCAA tourney where the 13th-seeded Bobcats lost in the first round to No. 4 Syracuse, the eventual national runner-up.
