Purdue On Wrong Side of History in Loss to Iowa State
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Many historic things have happened inside Mackey Arena over the years. Unfortunately for Purdue, the top-ranked Boilermakers were on the wrong side of history in Saturday afternoon's loss to No. 10 Iowa State.
The Cyclones clobbered the Boilermakers 81-58 on Saturday, an unlikely outcome in one of college basketball's most intimidating environments. That 23-point margin is tied for the largest home loss for a No. 1-ranked team in the sport's history, per ESPN.
On Feb. 18, 1995, No. 1 UConn suffered a 96-73 home loss to Villanova, another 23-point defeat. It's just the fourth time that a No. 1-ranked team has lost by 20 points or more on its home floor.
Iowa State had another hot shooting day, hitting 54% of its shots from the floor. The Cyclones were also 11-of-23 from long range. Milan Momcilovic led the way with 20 points, Killyan Toure added 13, Blake Buchanan had 12, and Joshua Jefferson scored 11.
Purdue, on the other hand, had one of its poorest offensive performances of the year. The Boilermakers were 41% from the floor and connected on just 22% of their three-point attempts. They were also 6-of-14 from the free-throw line.
Seniors Trey Kaufman-Renn and Fletcher Loyer struggled mightily from the floor, making just 3-of-16 shots in the game and combining for only nine points.
Purdue has high aspirations for this season, hoping to return to the Final Four. The Boilermakers are 8-1 on the year and have some quality wins on their resumé. Saturday wasn't a good day for Matt Painter's team inside Mackey Arena.
The Boilers have a chance to bounce back on Wednesday, as they will host Minnesota.
Loyer talks learning from loss
Purdue's senior trio of Kaufman-Renn, Loyer, and Braden Smith were frustrated with Saturday's performance, especially in front of a home crowd. Although there was plenty of disappointment, Loyer said it's important for the team to learn from the blowout loss.
"When you lose games like this, it either derails your season or you can turn it around," Loyer said after the game. "This really sucks right now, but it will probably end up being a good thing, showing us how much better we have to get and how much harder we have to play."
Loyer says it's critically important that Purdue responds in Wednesday's game against Minnesota. It must be the team that plays the hardest from start to finish.
"I believe we play Wednesday against Minnesota, we have to be the harder-playing team," Loyer said. "Tonight it was Iowa State and that can't happen, especially at home in front of this great fanbase."
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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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