Fletcher Loyer goes 10 of 14 on 3s in last 2 games to break out of slump and steady No. 12 Purdue

No, it won't go down as a challenger to Reggie Miller's eight points in nine seconds in the NBA playoffs, but Loyer made it work perfectly even if it wasn't entirely by design.

“I was hoping maybe he'd help on Braden (Smith's) back cut and then it would open it up for me,” Loyer said, describing what happened to Oregon guard Takai Simpkins. “But he kind of blew it up, so I kind of hesitated. Then he fell down, so once he fell down, I saw some space and took it.”

It's a good thing for Loyer — and Purdue, which cannot afford any more slip-ups it if intends to win the Big Ten's regular season.

Loyer went 3 for 4 from 3-point range, his first game since going 7 of 10 from beyond the arc in a victory at Maryland. In the five games before Maryland, Loyer was just 4 of 21 on 3s.

And as No. 12 Purdue (19-4, 9-3) knows, they're a better team when Loyer plays well.

Nobody was better than Loyer in the final minute. He made the go-ahead 3 with 50.3 seconds left, made one of two free throws with 19.4 seconds left to keep the Boilermakers in the lead and then grabbed the rebound and drew a foul with 7 seconds remaining after Oregon missed a free throw. Naturally, he made both free throws to seal it.

“I thought the best play he made was the rebound off the free throw,” coach Matt Painter said, “And that's always a plus when you've got a guy that we want to put at the free-throw line get the ball, right? So if he can get that rebound, that's just a plus.”

The Boilermakers needed him to play that way Saturday — and for the rest of this season, too.

While Braden Smith finished with 13 points, four rebounds and four assists on a day he became the Big Ten's first player to record 1,000 points and 500 assists in conference play only, and Trey Kaufman-Renn added 12 points and eight rebounds, it was the other senior who stepped forward and delivered when Purdue needed it most.

“We had some good opportunities to knock down some shots, and Fletch made a huge one there at the end,” Painter said. “The plays of the game were the seven straight stops. But that shot that he made was huge and I think that broke their back right there. Even though they were still in a position where they can (win) it, I thought it was just such a huge shot."

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