FIRST HALF ANALYSIS:
Nebraska needed a better start than the 14-1 deficit they had when they faced Purdue the first time. It technically started better…barely. Nebraska would be down 13-3 in the opening 4 minutes as the Boilermakers would hit 5 of their first 6 field goals. The theme of this first half would be the uncharacteristic number of turnovers by Nebraska. The Huskers would start to gain a foothold into this one, as Nebraska started 4-9 from deep.
Fletcher Loyer, who usually kills Nebraska since his freshman year approximately 18 years ago, started to get hot and keep Nebraska at bay. Every Nebraska turnover would seem to result in a Purdue basket, as the Huskers would commit 8 turnovers in the half, which led to 17 Purdue points. That stat alone is why Purdue took a 41-28 lead into the break.
FIRST HALF STATS:
Purdue shot 15-28 for 54% from the floor. They went 6-15 for 40% from deep and 5-6 for 83% from the free-throw line. The Boilermakers collected 14 rebounds, 5 of which were offensive. Purdue had 12 assists to 4 turnovers. They had 17 points off of turnovers.
The Boilermakers were led by Fletcher Loyer, who had 13 points. C.J Cox had 9. Trey Kaufman-Renn and Oscar Cluff had 3 rebounds each. Braden Smith, despite being held scoreless, had 7 assists.
Nebraska shot 10-26 for 39% from the floor. They went 6-17 for 35% from deep and 2-3 for 67% from the free-throw line. The Huskers collected 15 rebounds, 6 of which were offensive. Nebraska had 8 turnovers to 7 assists.
The Huskers were led by Pryce Sandfort, who had 10 points. Jared Garcia had 6 off the bench. Sam Hoiberg led the way with 5 rebounds and 3 assists.
SECOND HALF ANALYSIS:
Nebraska never had anything in it like it did the first time against Purdue. The Boilermakers immediately made the lead 18. Nebraska used an 8-0 run to cut the lead to 10, but outside of one time Nebraska cut the lead to 8, that was as close as they got. In the first half, Nebraska got torched by points off of turnovers. In this half, it was second chance points. Anytime Nebraska had gotten a crucial stop, Purdue found an offensive rebound and subsequent bucket. The Boilermakers used a 14-2 run over a 3-minute timespan to blow the lead open to 20. It was cruise control from there.
FINAL STATS AND THOUGHTS:
Purdue shot 26-58 for 45% from the floor. They went 10-31 for 32% from deep and 12-14 for 86% from the free-throw line. The Boilermakers collected 37 rebounds, 13 of which were offensive. Purdue had 20 assists to 9 turnovers. They had 17 points off turnovers and 19 second chance points.
The Boilermakers were led by Fletcher Loyer, who had 19 points. Trey Kaufman-Renn had 10 points and 9 rebounds, while Oscar Cluff had 12 points and 9 rebounds. Braden Smith had 10 assists.
Nebraska shot 22-56 for 39% from the floor. They went 10-31 for 32% from deep and 4-9 for a horrible 44% from the free-throw line. The Huskers collected 29 rebounds, 10 of which were offensive. Nebraska had 15 assists to 10 turnovers. They had 18 bench points.
The Huskers were led by Pryce Sandfort, who had 15 points. Rienk Mast had 11. Sam Hoiberg led the way with 8 rebounds and 4 assists.
It was a tale of two halves, but both were terrible. In the first half, Nebraska was outscored 17-0 on points off of turnovers. In the second half, the Boilermakers blew the door open with 2nd chance points. Purdue as a 7-seed in this tournament is a damn nightmare, especially when their 7-foot clones come trolling out of the engineering department. Nebraska was minus 11 in second chance points, minus 8 on free-throws made and minus 12 in points off of turnovers.
Nebraska will have to set the school record for wins next week, I guess. One of these days we’ll be able to gut one out like we did earlier this year. This was just disappointing on many levels. The same slow start against Purdue again and getting blown out like at UCLA. Nebraska needs to find an extra gear next week or we may be in serious danger of suffering an upset loss. The good news is they have the opportunity to right the ship. We’ll see where they go for the NCAA Tournament next week and who the opponent is.