The moments were brief.

Caleb Swanigan may have latched on at some point, perhaps Ryan Cline got a touch, maybe Carsen Edwards snuck a kiss.

But, for the most part, from the moment the Big Ten’s associate commissioner Rick Boyages declared Purdue champions of the Big Ten and passed on the trophy after the Boilermakers’ 86-75 victory over Indiana, its bulk largely was cradled by juniors Dakota Mathias and Vince Edwards.

Classmate P.J. Thompson held it for awhile sitting on the bench during senior day festivities, but even then, it didn’t seem like sole possession, not with Mathias sitting next to him, their thighs touching to balance the weight together. Classmate Isaac Haas walked past and rubbed the silver basketball, which seemingly was reflecting smiles all night as Purdue savored its victory over the hated Hoosiers for a league-record 23rd Big Ten championship.

Mathias clung to trophy until it was time to cut down the nets — and then he set it at the foot of the ladder, in close view. Edwards was the one to, finally, nearly 30 minutes later, carry it up the tunnel toward the locker room, clutching it as tightly as the piece of net he held between his teeth. Edwards brought the trophy into the postgame press conference, even, seemingly unwilling to let it out of his sight, and was the one to carry it out of there and slowly stroll back toward the locker room.

It may be just a trophy, but it symbolizes so much for this team, especially this group of juniors.

It was that class that Coach Matt Painter targeted with a specific mindset as much as skill set to lead a turnaround, from worst to, ultimately, first.

And, on Tuesday, with IU in the building for the home finale, No. 16 Purdue clinched the title. To give it one more all-time than Indiana.

As the gold and black confetti poured from the Mackey ceiling as soon as the buzzer sounded, players let loose, grabbing each other in bear hugs, screaming in delight, allowing themselves to feel every bit of the struggle-turned-joy of three-plus years in one triumphant moment.

“It feels pretty good, obviously,” Mathias said after he'd settled into the media room. “Something we’ve been working on. I think it’s a testament to the guys in the locker room, especially our junior class. When we got here, I think they finished last in the Big Ten, second-to-last, so to come this far in just a short amount of years, you have to give a lot of credit to the guys and the willpower in that locker room.”

The class that meant so much to the turnaround did its part Tuesday.

Mathias had 19 points, 17 in the first half to help Purdue build an eight-point lead at the break. He also had seven rebounds and two steals in 39 minutes.

Edwards had 15 points, a team-high seven assists and seven rebounds in 37 minutes.

Thompson had seven points, two assists and one turnover in 32 minutes.

Haas was limited to only six minutes because of foul trouble but still scored six points and helped get Indiana’s bigs in foul trouble.

And Purdue now sits at 24-6, 13-4 in the Big Ten with only one game remaining, Sunday at Northwestern with a chance to win the title outright. But that wasn’t the point of discussion just yet.

It made more sense, on this night at least, to reflect. Where Purdue was then, in 2013-14, losing the final seven games of the season, limping to a 15-17 overall finish, only a 5-13 mark in the league.

To now, with confetti glittering on Keady Court, players unable to leave because they were stopped over and over for another photo, another hug, another congratulatory handshake, another autograph.

“For us, it was kind of, being able to start over a little bit,” Painter said, reflecting on what the title means. “When you’re at a place for a period of time, we went to six straight NCAA Tournaments, then we struggled for a couple of years and we’re in last place in our league, to be able to push forward three years later and win the league and really do it with that junior class, P.J. Thompson, Dakota Mathias, Vince Edwards and Isaac Haas — obviously we added some pieces and (Caleb) Swanigan has been the best player in our league — but it really started with those guys and just trying to bring people in our program that are about winning and trying to get a more skilled guy. I think that’s where we really suffered.

“It means a lot for our program. There’s a lot of tradition here at Purdue. There’s a lot of tradition within our state. … This is something they’ll cherish forever. You can celebrate this when the season is over. I’m happy for those guys.”

Painter wasn’t happy himself, though.

That’s just how life as a coach works, he said. There’s never a chance to cherish moments as they happen. There’s never an ability to overlook mistakes, even if they may come at the end of a game that already was all-but-decided.

“It’s impossible to enjoy it,” Painter said. “No matter what you do, somebody is mad. It’s just the way it is. So you’re constantly thinking about, ‘What can I do for our program? What can I do for our team and our players to get ready for that next game?’ Once it’s over, there’s only one team that wins. Now people are critical of you (if you don’t) and now you’ve got to be able to do what’s best for your program. That’s what we want to do. We want to just keep improving and getting better and not settle. You’re celebrating out here and we’ve got a game Sunday. It’s an important game. I think someone has to keep the balance.”

That “balance” may not only be provided by Painter.

Swanigan, the league’s best player who had the 24th double-double of his season Tuesday with 21 points and 10 rebounds, seemed largely subdued. He was pulled from the game — likely his final one in Mackey as he’s expected to leave for the NBA after the season — with 38.7 seconds remaining and simply walked down the line of teammates on the bench, giving fives, and then sat down. His normal routine. After the win while his teammates were jumping around together in a jumble near the bench, he was the first Purdue player in line to shake Indiana’s players' and coaches' hands. And then he was waving the rest of his teammates over to do so, too.

Swanigan followed the rest of the postgame victory rituals — walking the perimeter of the court, high-fiving fans, before joining ESPN for an interview. He grabbed his Big Ten championship hat. He smiled for the team photo with the trophy, but it didn’t seem to linger. He slowly moved up the ladder, the last player to do so, to cut down the net and hung it around his neck.

For Swanigan, much like Painter, it seemed too early to really celebrate, regardless of the weight of the accomplishment — Purdue’s first league title since 2010.

“I’ve enjoyed it,” Swanigan still said later when asked if he did. “It’s been fun.”

It’s been work, too, of course.

And that’s not done quite yet.

But, at least for a day, Purdue won't consume itself with that.

This feeling was much better.

“It’s unbelievable,” Vincent Edwards said. “This group of guys, being in the locker room, day in and day out, just the bond we have as a team, willing to stick together and just not collapse when times got hard. For our class to have been what they’ve been through, adding Biggie, Cline, Carsen … it’s just huge. Adding someone like Spike.

“It’s just an unbelievable experience to be able to come out and accomplish this goal is something we set since we got here.”