March 26, 2026, 4:57 a.m. ET
- Purdue center Oscar Cluff’s recent performance has improved due to increased stamina and a change in substitution patterns.
- Cluff’s improved play includes more points, rebounds, and a significant increase in blocked shots.
- The Boilermakers will face Texas and their 7-foot center, Matas Vokietaitis, in the Sweet 16.
SAN JOSE, CA — Purdue basketball’s Oscar Cluff insists surfing is not as hard as it looks, but admits he didn’t have much staying power on the board growing up in Australia.
The Boilermakers’ center needed stamina to grind through rugby matches, too, but without the same constant back-and-forth sprinting needed to play high-level basketball.
Cluff’s past two weeks have been the best extended stretch of his Purdue career. He might have been the Big Ten Tournament MVP if not for Braden Smith’s record-setting performance. He flirted with double-doubles in both NCAA Tournament games in St. Louis last weekend.
The Boilermakers are getting more of Cluff in both minutes and production, something he insists has a simple explanation.
“Just trying to get after it,” Cluff said. “It’s do-or-die now, so you have to go for everything.”
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Cluff arrived in San Jose to find a mirror image awaiting him – in playing profile, if not appearance. Much of what Sweet 16 opponent Texas does hinges on the leverage created by 7-foot center Matas Vokietaitis.
It’s precisely the sort of matchup Purdue coach Matt Painter had in mind when he went to South Dakota between rounds of last year’s NCAA Tournament to recruit Cluff out of the transfer portal.
Both big men come into the West Region semifinal on the momentum of recent dominant performances. For Cluff, his confidence – and his fun factor – are at season highs.
“He looks like a good player,” Cluff said. “It’s gonna be fun. I can’t wait, really.”
Purdue lineup tweak unlocked more of Oscar Cluff
Down the stretch of the regular season, Cluff’s stamina became more of an issue. Excepting the overtime win at Nebraska, he played no more than 22 minutes in any game from the Jan. 27 loss at Indiana to the March 1 loss at Ohio State.
“You see me pulling him quick sometimes,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said on Feb. 13. “A lot of times that’s just the fatigue, what I’m seeing in his face.”
Told Cluff said he was “gassed” in the first half of the previous game against Nebraska, Painter quipped, “He’s gassed a lot.
“And I’ll do that sometimes. Like, ‘Man, he just made two shots.’ Yeah, but his tongue’s down by his shoelaces.”
The solution turned out to come from a counter-intuitive switch to Painter’s substitution pattern.
Previously, he sent Daniel Jacobsen in for Cluff at the first media timeout, sometimes less than five minutes into the game. Beginning with the regular-season finale against Wisconsin, he sent Jack Benter in for Trey Kaufman-Renn and left Cluff on the floor. Then Kaufman-Renn subbed back in for Cluff a few minutes later to play center in Purdue’s smaller lineup variation.
It did not produce the desired result – Wisconsin won 97-93 – but Cluff’s performance started trending up almost immediately. Over the past six games, his production per 30 minutes has jumped in scoring (12.5 to 15.0), rebounds (9.1 to 9.8) and, most noticeably, blocks (1.0 to 1.7).
Cluff says it’s not a coincidence. The trick was not to avoid the first sign of fatigue – it was to push through it.
Cluff had played 30 minutes in regulation only once prior to the Big Ten Tournament. He’s done so in three of the last six games since that switch.
“Kind of just getting through that first wind,” Cluff said. “I come out and get past that where I get a little tired and I push through that, I come down and I feel great for the rest of the game.”
Stamina, though, is not the only factor in whether Cluff plays deep minutes Thursday.
Purdue’s Oscar Cluff balancing defensive aggression, foul avoidance
With a little over 11 minutes to play in the second round in St. Louis, Miami’s Malik Reneau grabbed an offensive rebound and tried to come back up. Cluff’s long arms came down upon him, and an official blew his whistle for the big man’s third foul.
It triggered the under-12 TV timeout, and as the Boilermakers reconvened at their bench, guard Fletcher Loyer seized on Cluff’s miscue as a teachable moment.
“Get your (bleeping) hands up,” Loyer shouted loud enough for everyone in a Purdue uniform, and plenty of folks in the stands, to hear.
In theory, Cluff’s improved stamina helps him avoid fouls as well. He’s more alert and less prone to being a step behind and reaching on defense.
That’s easier said than done against elite opponents, though. He played through foul trouble in the Big Ten Tournament championship win over Michigan, grabbing key rebounds in the final five minutes despite being one foul from disqualification.
However, Cluff has also recently engaged the delicate balance between aggressive defense and staying on the floor.
From Nov. 21 through March 4, Cluff went without a block in 15 of 24 games. He didn’t post more than two in any of them.
He’s blocked at least one in eight straight games now – easily the longest stretch of his Division I career. He tied his season and career highs with four blocks of Queens in the opening round. He blocked two more against Miami to go along with three steals – also a season high.
“Then there’s some games where maybe you’re not able to block shots, but you keep guys out of the paint and you’re not giving up straight-line layups,” Purdue assistant Brandon Brantley said. “If you watched us last year, you know that was a common thing for us on that defensive end.”
That added rim protection may be crucial considering the new lineup strategy. It’s the forte of 7-4 Jacobsen, but he plays spot minutes now, with more time going to Kaufman-Renn and the small-ball lineup.
Purdue brought Cluff in first and foremost to extend the rebounding excellence he displayed at South Dakota State. It also needed real rim protection. Each of the past 15 national champions posted a block percentage of at least 9.0, and the Boilers finished last season at 5.1.
Cluff’s recent swat-happy surge has lifted Purdue’s block percentage back to … 9.0 on the dot.
“It’s been honestly really helpful just having him down there,” Purdue point guard Braden Smith said. “Obviously just trying to limit him from fouling is the biggest thing, because we need him in the game.”
Next up: An opponent built to force players like Cluff off the floor.
Texas has full confidence in its own foreign-born center
As Sean Miller put together his first Texas roster, he, too, needed an influx of size. He opted for a newer model.
Vokietaitis’ mother, Neringa Vokietaitiene, played for the Lithuanian National Team at the age-group level. He followed that heritage before coming to America to play at Florida Atlantic. He averaged 10.2 points and 5.5 rebounds in 17.7 minutes in his first season.
It made him the American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year – and a coveted commodity when he entered the transfer portal.
He immediately injected the Longhorns’ roster with physicality and low-post scoring presence – and a European vibe.
“His swag is up there – I didn’t know he had that,” Texas guard Chendall Weaver said. “He’ll come to the facility wearing some different stuff and I’ll be like, ‘Ooh la, I can get that off you Matas?’ He has this Gucci puffer that I want.”
Vokietaitis draws attention under the basket, too. Only two players nationally draw more fouls per 40 minutes than his 8.4. No other power conference player draws more than 7.5.
He anchors an offense which goes to the free throw lane at a top-30 rate nationally. Cluff will need to win that matchup without fouling, but neither team sees that as purely a 1-on-1 equation. Longhorns such as Dailyn Swain, Tramon Mark and Jordan Pope will attack downhill to either get to the basket or force Cluff and Purdue’s other bigs into disadvantageous situations.
Purdue’s confidence in Cluff has never been greater. After Vokietaitis averaged 18.3 points and 11 rebounds over three NCAA Tournament games, the Longhorns feel similar affection for their guy.
“I don’t think any team in the country has a Matas,” Texas forward Nic Codie said. “I think we’re the only team with a Matas, and I’m grateful to be on that team. I feel like Matas is the best big in the country and he can show that any given night.
“I feel like he’ll show that tomorrow night, actually.”
Purdue’s Oscar Cluff trying to finish strong with uncertain future
Purdue still plans to petition for Cluff to receive another season of eligibility, though that process may way until after the season. There’s no guarantee that ends up bringing him back to West Lafayette.
So Brantley sees a simpler explanation in Cluff’s recent resurgence.
“He’s a senior,” Brantley said. “You’re coming down the stretch and every game you play now could be your last game if you don’t do your job.
“He’s done some great stuff and been positive for us. I think that just kinda reinforces his belief of what he can do. He’s done a great job of running for the early post in transition, and it’s juiced our team up – and it’s got him going.”
Cluff faced off with some elite big men this season, including Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Aday Mara of Michigan, Washington’s Hannes Steinbach and Illinois’ Tomislav Ivisic.
Brantley, though, could not draw an easy comparison between Vokietaitis and anyone Purdue faced this season.
Texas, though, likely as not seen many big men playing with the efficiency and fervor Cluff has brought to the court going on two-plus weeks. He’s bringing quantity and quality, and it might be the key to bringing Purdue’s season back to Indianapolis.
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