Even During Shooting Slump, Purdue Never Lost Faith in Fletcher Loyer
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There was probably nobody happier to rip the January page out of the calendar than Fletcher Loyer. Purdue's sharp-shooting senior guard made just 30% of his three-point attempts in eight Big Ten games and ended the month averaging just 6.5 points per contest in the last four to end the month.
Loyer broke out of his slump on the first day of February — or perhaps we should rename it Fletchuary — scoring 29 points in a 93-63 win over Maryland on Sunday. He went 7-for-10 from behind the three-point line and 9-for-14 overall.
After suffering through a difficult stretch, you might believe Loyer was elated to finally put the ball through the hoop consistently for a full 40 minutes. His own offensive production wasn't at the front of his mind, though.
"It's just a win for the team," he said after the game. "Obviously, you want to make shots, but when it's not going in, it's staying confident and keep moving forward."
Loyer is a career 40% three-point shooter and has proven to emerge from these difficult stretches with big performances. Coach Matt Painter is hopeful that Sunday's effort in College Park catapults his senior guard into a stretch where he becomes one of the top three-point threats in the nation.
With games against No. 9 Nebraska, Iowa, No. 2 Michigan, Indiana and No. 10 Michigan State this month, Purdue needs its best perimeter shooter to be a weapon.
"It was great to see Fletcher get going," Painter said. "It really helped us from an offensive standpoint. You've gotta give him attention and you've gotta be able to stay with him. In his career, he's always had a stretch where he struggles and a stretch where he's the best shooter in the country. We hope this is the start of that stretch."
Teammates always believed in Loyer
Braden Smith and Trey Kaufman-Renn have played a lot of basketball alongside Loyer. For four years, they've watched him bury triple after triple, climbing all the way up to second on Purdue's all-time three-point shooters list.
So, even when things got a little bumpy, they never lost faith in their teammate and senior leader.
"It's Fletch, I've played with him for four years. I know what he's capable of, he just hadn't been making shots," Smith said. "Whether he were to miss shots again today or make them, it's the same thing. He's in the gym, he puts in the time and makes those shots all the time."
Although Loyer downplayed the significance of scoring 29 points to break out of his slump on Sunday, Kaufman-Renn hopes that a big outing against Maryland gives the senior guard more confidence in his shot.
Everyone understands how deadly Loyer can be from three-point range, and how much his perimeter shooting benefits Purdue on the offensive end of the floor.
"Hopefully it gives him some confidence," Kaufman-Renn said. "He's been here for four years, we know how good of a shooter he is, we see it everyday. It's just trying to get him as many open shots as possible. As a teammate, that's what I'm looking at. If he can catch the ball and shoot the ball, that's the shot we want."
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Dustin Schutte is the publisher of Purdue Boilermakers on SI and has spent more than a decade working in sports journalism. His career began in 2013, when he covered Big Ten football. He remained in that role for eight years before working at On SI to cover the Boilermakers. Dustin graduated from Manchester University in Indiana in 2010, where he played for the men's tennis team.
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