Fletcher Loyer Fuels No. 3 Purdue Basketball in 73-55 Win Over Nebraska
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Freshman guard Fletcher Loyer scored a career-high 27 points and made six 3-pointers to lead No. 3 Purdue basketball in a 73-55 victory over Nebraska on Friday night at Mackey Arena.
Loyer scored 12 of the first 15 points for the Boilermakers, all from beyond the arc to jumpstart the offense in a game the team never trailed. In two matchups against the Cornhuskers, the first-year player has combined for 49 points.
"They got hot, and unfortunately we couldn't slow Loyer down," Nebraska basketball head coach Fred Hoiberg said after the game. "He's a hell of a player."
From the opening tip, Purdue’s offense ran through Loyer. He drilled three of his first four shots from the 3-point line, finishing the first half 5-of-12 from the field and 4-of-10 from deep.
In the team’s last two road matchups, Loyer combined to go 7-of-13 from the 3-point line despite scoring just three first-half points. After slow starts in wins against Ohio State and Penn State, he caught fire and showed no hesitation to pull the trigger when he was open.
The Boilermakers were 7-of-19 from beyond the arc in the opening period as the Cornhuskers emphasized slowing down star center Zach Edey underneath the basket. However, the 7-foot-4 junior impacted the matchup on the glass. He had just seven points in the first half but pulled down seven rebounds, including five offensive boards.
“We knew all week that the defense they play with sitting low on Zach that we’d have a lot of kick-out shots and a lot of opportunity for me,” Loyer said. “So I had to just be ready to shoot and same with everyone else. I thought everyone did a good job of being ready to shoot, and Zach was very patient and did a good job of kicking it out.”
Senior forward Derrick Walker kept the game competitive for Nebraska before halftime, scoring 13 points in the first half. The Boilermakers had just 10 points in the paint before going into the locker room with a 35-24 lead.
After closing the first period by scoring six straight points, Purdue opened the second half with an 11-0 run to take a 22-point lead with 16:16 left to play. It was the team’s largest advantage of the game, and Nebraska was never able to claw its way back from the deficit.
"What did us in was the starts to both halves," Hoiberg said. "Give Purdue credit for that. They come out in this building, it's an incredible atmosphere and a great place to play. But our guys never backed down and they kept competing."
The Cornhuskers finished the game with three players in double figures, which included Walker’s team-high 19 points on 9-of-15 shooting while adding six rebounds and four assists. Junior guard Keisei Tominaga scored 11 of his 16 points in the second half and made four 3-pointers. Senior guard Emmanuel Bandoumel notched 10 in the contest.
In the first meeting between the two teams on Dec. 10 in Lincoln, Nebraska came down with 19 offensive rebounds. But without Juwan Gary and Sam Griesel in the lineup, the Cornhuskers struggled to crash the glass from the perimeter as the Boilermakers finished with 12 rebounds on the offensive end of the floor.
Edey, who was held to just 12 points on the night, contributed 13 rebounds with seven coming on offense. It was his ninth straight double-double and 14th of the season. Purdue had nine second-chance points in the win and outrebounded Nebraska 38-19.
"Offensive rebounding is something I really can have a good impact on in the game," Edey said. "Obviously, getting second cracks, getting more possessions is great. When you look at our entire team, everyone rebounded really well."
The Boilermakers ended with four different players scoring double-digit points and were 11-of-20 from the 3-point line. Alongside the scoring efforts of Loyer and Edey, freshman guard Braden Smith and junior forward Mason Gillis each registered 10 points.
"You don't know exactly how they'll guard everybody, but how they defend us in the post, that's how they defend everybody," Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "That's their thing, they come on a baseline double.
"It's really not going to be effective if you just kind of throw it in and practice it for two to three days. It's not going to be effective at all, your rotations are going to be poor. But that's what they've done from day one. So in the summer and the fall, that's what they put in and they're really good at it, they do a good job. We made a couple adjustments."
Purdue improved to 16-1 on the season and 5-1 in Big Ten play, the best start since the 1993-94 season. The team hits the road on Sunday for a matchup with Michigan State at 2:30 p.m. ET on Monday.
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