BOSTON -- Purdue center Isaac Haas didn't practice the past two days and is unlikely to play in the Boilermakers' Sweet 16 game against Texas Tech on Friday due to a fractured elbow, coach Matt Painter said.
"I don't see him playing until he can practice and show me he can shoot a right-handed free throw and get a rebound with two hands," Painter said Thursday. "In the last two days, he hasn't practiced. So I don't see it."
Painter said if Haas doesn't practice, he won't be able to play at any point during the NCAA tournament.
"I would think he's done," Painter said. "To me, it's the eye test. It's going out and watching him. He can go practice today if he wants, and I can evaluate him. But if he doesn't practice, nothing changes, right? No matter what I say or you say or he says especially, he fractured his elbow. You know what I mean? So if you fractured your elbow and you can't shoot a free throw, I don't know how it changes in two days."
Haas suffered the injury during Purdue's first-round win over Cal State Fullerton, and he was initially ruled out for the rest of the tournament. However, Haas practiced the Saturday before Purdue's game against Butler with a large black brace on his right elbow --- but he was not cleared by NCAA officials to play with the brace.
Students in Purdue's engineering program took up the task of designing a brace for Haas to wear during the game.
"Going to a school like Purdue, you have these students like that, and people working in those departments and know what they're doing," senior Vincent Edwards said. "I was in the training room when they talked about it, facilitating it out. To try to give him an opportunity to play again, that was huge on their part."
Haas, a 7-foot-2 center, was averaging 14.7 points and 5.7 rebounds when he went down with the injury. Matt Haarms, a 7-foot-3 freshman, saw a season-high 29 minutes against Butler on Sunday, getting seven points, six rebounds and two blocks.
"Any time you lose such an important piece of your offense like Isaac, it takes time to adjust," senior Dakota Mathias said. "We had a quick turnaround, playing Butler like we did. But getting in the gym, having a few more days of practice, getting some different sets in, some designs, it definitely helped that timing."