Loyer Thrills Boiler Faithful

Loyer Thrills Boiler Faithful 

by: Steven Stremming

photos by: Anthony Harper/Excel H Sports/Indiana Sports Network

photos by: Anthony Harper/Excel H Sports/Indiana Sports Network

Friday night, January 13th, 2023, will be a night to be remembered for Boilermaker fans, as freshman Fletcher Loyer sank four three-pointers of the Boilers first fifteen (15) points sending Purdue to a win from start to finish in a sold-out Mackey Arena, (14,876) and Head Coach Matt Painter would collect his 400th B1G Ten career win.

Loyer was not done for the night, as he would eventually total 27 points on eight of fifteen shots, including a six for twelve evening from behind the arc. While the Boilers were moving the ball, Player of the Year candidate, Junior Zach Edey was playing a patient game as he once again was a dominant presence in the paint.

photos by: Anthony Harper/Excel H Sports/Indiana Sports Network

Fellow freshman, Westfield’s Braden Smith was active again, as he recorded ten points to go along with four assists and a steal.

photos by: Anthony Harper/Excel H Sports/Indiana Sports Network

Not to be outdone, New Castle, Indiana’s Mason Gillis was a solid force on the floor as he pulled down five boards while adding ten points to the Boilermaker cause.

photos by: Anthony Harper/Excel H Sports/Indiana Sports Network

The Nebraska Cornhuskers were playing without two starters, Sam Griesel and Juwan Gary, but like every team, next person up.

Derrick Walker kept the Huskers within striking distance at times during the contest as he would end up with a team high nineteen points and six rebounds. Keise Tominaga came off the bench and aided Walker with 16 points and Emmanuel Bandoumel added ten.

photos by: Anthony Harper/Excel H Sports/Indiana Sports Network

The Boilers shot 44.2% percent from the field for the night to Fred Hoiberg’s Huskers’ 43.4%.

The Boilers also outrebounded Nebraska 38 to 19 for the night.

The Boilers now move to 16 and one over-all and five and one in the B1G Ten while Nebraska falls to nine and nine over-all.

Other Boilers adding to the final count of 73 to 55 were Caleb Furst five points and six boards, Ethan Morton three points and two steals, Brandon Newman three points, David Jenkins, Jr. a point and two assists with Trey Kaufman-Renn adding a bucket and three boards.

The following is per Purdue Athletics:

 

• Purdue improved to 16-1 overall and 5-1 in the Big Ten with a 73-55 win over Nebraska on Friday night in Mackey Arena. The win was Purdue’s third in a row, including second straight by at least 13 points.
• The win came in front of a sold-out crowd of 14,876, Mackey Arena’s 50^th consecutive sellout, the fourth-longest streak in the country (Duke, Kansas, Gonzaga).
• The victory was the 400^th win at Purdue for head coach Matt Painter, the fifth Big Ten coach to reach 400 victories in the Big Ten (Tom Izzo, Bob Knight, Gene Keady, Lou Henson). He also won his 199^th career Big Ten game, needing one win to become the seventh coach with 200 league wins.
• Purdue became the 11^th program to win 1,900 all-time games, now with a 1,900-1,054 record.
• Purdue’s 16-1 start is its best record through 17 games since the 1993-94 season (16-1). A win over Michigan State on Monday would give Purdue a 17-1 record for just the second time in school history (1987-88).
• Purdue is 5-1 in the Big Ten for the first time since the 2017-18 season (12-0).
• Purdue improved to 9-0 all-time against Nebraska in Mackey Arena. The average margin of victory in the nine games is 16.6 points per game.
• Since the start of last season, Purdue is now 45-9 (.833), the fourth-most wins in America (Kansas, Houston, Arizona).
• Purdue has held all 17 opponents to 70 points or fewer. Minnesota and Marquette both scored 70 points against Purdue’s defense. Purdue has held its last eight opponents to 59.6 points per game. Purdue has held 29 straight opponents under 75 points, the second-longest streak in America (North Texas – 49).
• Purdue made 11-of-29, 3-pointers, the second time in the last three games it has made at least 11 3-pointers. Over the last three games, Purdue is 32-of-78 (.410) from 3-point range.
• Purdue’s freshman class accounted for 39 of Purdue’s 73 points.
• Fletcher Loyer tallied a career-high 27 points with three assists. His 27 points are the seventh most by a Purdue freshman in school history, while his six 3-pointers were the most by a freshman in school history.
• Loyer now has 41, 3-pointers on the season, already the sixth most by a freshman in a season in school history.
• Over his last three games, Loyer is 13-of-25 (.520) from 3-point range.
• Zach Edey recorded his 14^th double-double of the season (26^th career) with 12 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks. He has recorded nine straight double-doubles, tied for the third-longest streak in school history behind just Terry Dischinger (12 in 1959-60) and Dave Schellhase (11 in 1965-66).
• Braden Smith had 10 points, five rebounds, four assists in another strong floor game. He was 4-of-5 from the field with just one turnover in 31 minutes.
• Mason Gillis tallied 10 points with five rebounds. In games during his career that he scores 10 or more points, Purdue is 13-2.