N.C.A.A. Men’s Tournament: Purdue Survives Without Isaac Haas

Purdue's Carsen Edwards had 13 points in the Boilermakers' 76-73 win over Butler on Sunday.When the news went out shortly after Purdue’s win over Cal State Fullerton on Friday, it sounded definitive that Isaac Haas, the Boilermakers’ starting center, would not be able to return for the remainder of the N.C.A.A. men’s basketball tournament.

Yet there was Haas, warming up on the court Sunday before the No. 2 Purdue faced No. 10 Butler, wearing a brace on his newly fractured right elbow.

Haas’s inspirational attempt at an improbable comeback was ultimately thwarted when the N.C.A.A. ruled that his brace did not conform to safety standards. But Purdue managed to advance to the Round of 16 without…