Fletcher Loyer was the star of the show. Yes, he read your tweets.
To quote Stefan from those old SNL sketches: The first half had everything; missed free throws, too many free throws, phantom fouls, a technical error and terrible shooting by Purdue. To put the first half in perspective for you, in case you weren’t watching, Purdue only had two players make field goals. Fletcher Loyer was 4-13 and Zach Edey was 2-5. No one else made an FG for the Boilermakers. As a team, they were 6-for-30 from the field, including 2-for-10 from deep and 16-for-26 from the free throw line. This was a huge improvement over their start, with Zach Edey uncharacteristically missing his first six attempts at the finish line. In a bizarre mirror image of yesterday’s game against Gonzaga, Purdue played a pretty bad half, but somehow went into halftime down just 31-30.
The frustration was palpable in the arena during the first half as Purdue fans complained and mocked the referees for the raids on Edey and for the phantom fouls on Edey and Gillis. Tennessee fans were equally angry about the 26-13 free throw disparity and their belief that Edey and TKR should have been used multiple times for 3s. The call of “3 seconds” echoed around the arena a few times and they continued to let the referees hear it.
If yesterday’s game was all about Braden Smith, and it was, then today was all about Fletcher Loyer. The sophomore had no doubt heard all the Twitter conversations and message board rumblings and wanted to prove everyone wrong. He was Purdue’s leading scorer in the first half with 17 points. But he did more than just shoot the ball. He was active on defense and although he finished the half with just one steal, the stat sheet shows no tips (as much as Tom Crean would have liked) and no defensive activity. He wasn’t perfect, of course, but when Purdue struggled to get anything done on offense in the first half and later in the second half, it was often Fletcher Loyer who pulled Purdue out of the fire. Especially when the shot clock expired when he handed off an errant runner and was fouled. He hit the free throw and helped Purdue maintain the lead.
Since the officiating player was, well…bad, Zach Edey had four fouls and went to the bench stewing. As he walked to the bench, he clearly expressed his frustration with the administration. Thanks to a combination of Loyer, TKR and some timely contributions from Lance Jones and Caleb Furst, Purdue weathered the storm without him. Edey came back into the game with 3:44 left and Purdue led 62-61. His presence was felt, but not immediately. Instead, Loyer made the big play right after that got another steal, followed by a timeout called by the Purdue bench to steal a possession from Tennessee. On the ensuing possession, Edey extended the lead to 64-61 with a nice floater in the lane.
There’s just something about these two teams coming together in any sport that produces wild results and just plain wild games. This was no different. Immediately after Purdue extended the lead to three, Tennessee responded with a three-pointer to even the lead. Neither team would get away quietly. But where else could this game have been decided than at the free throw line? Down the stretch, Purdue would score just enough to maintain the lead. Of course, Tennessee’s strange decision to only shoot three-pointers benefited Purdue. A three-pointer from Braden Smith with just under a minute left would put Purdue over the magical 69 mark and be enough to end the game. Smith had a chance to put the game out of reach with two free throws, but missed both. Overall, Purdue finished the game making 29 of 48 points from the free throw line. Of course, Tennessee would hit another three-pointer to make it closer, because what would a Tennessee-Purdue game be without the last-second scare, right? A free throw from Lance Jones would increase the lead to four, and that would be enough, folks. Tennessee missed a desperate three-pointer and fouled Braden Smith. And therefore whose house? Our house! The singing began.
Purdue will be in action tomorrow in the Maui Invitational Championship game against the winner of Kansas vs. Marquette.
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