In a game marred by poor officiating, #1 Purdue pulled away late behind 20 Fletcher Loyer points to beat the Memphis Tigers, 80-71.
Loyer’s four second half threes spurred Purdue’s offense in the second half after failing to knock down a field goal in the first half.
It didn’t take long for Loyer to come out firing in the second half. After a quick two threes, Loyer’s third three in the second half gave Purdue a 55-48 lead midway through the second half.
But an unfavorable whistle and a physical Memphis Tigers team kept this one close for most the evening in the opening game at the four team Baha Mar Championship in Nassau, Bahamas.
The foul trouble started for Purdue late in the first half when All-American, Trey Kaufman-Renn, just a rebound short of a double-double, was called for back to back fouls on rebounds. The senior was visibly frustrated headed to the bench with less than a minute to go in the first half. He was then audibly frustrated, and that resulted in him being called for the second technical of the game. That gave Kaufman-Renn his third foul and meant Purdue would keep him on the bench to start the second half.
Kaufman-Renn wouldn’t check back in until 12 minutes were left in the game and he wouldn’t finish the game either.
Kaufman-Renn would end up fouling out with 2:15 left in the game with Purdue holding to a two possession lead.
Before Kaufman-Renn fouled out, the two teams traded fireworks.
Purdue had back to back alley oops with Trey Kaufman-Renn finding Daniel Jacobsen for a dunk and then Braden Smith did the same on the next play.
But Aaron Bradshaw threw down an alley oop of his own for Memphis with just over nine minutes to play to pull the game within two, 59-57.
Ashton Hardaway would tie the game with a floater soon after at 59. Memphis would take the lead on a Dug McDaniel lay up before the game’s physicality led to the third technical of the game.
Bradshaw flopped to the floor against Oscar Cluff and fell to the ground after Cluff gave a slight bump to Bradshaw from behind near the free throw line. After laying face down for a few seconds, Bradshaw quickly got up and stormed towards Cluff, putting a finger in the big man’s face. Bradshaw would be called for a technical and foul out.
CJ Cox had a big game for Purdue, scoring a career-high 18 points.
Cox took advantage of Oscar Cluff’s effort on the offensive glass. Cluff finished with 11 points and 7 rebounds, but was everywhere in the second half on the offensive glass. He was able to deflect a miss and the ball ended up in the middle of the paint where Cox cleaned it up, leading to a left handed lay up that gave Purdue the lead back at 65-64.
A breakaway defensive rebound by Braden Smith would finish with Smith dumping it off to Cox for Cox’s fourth three of the game, giving Purdue a 68-64 lead.
An ugly stretch at the end of the game saw Braden Smith slip on a wet spot at half court, turning it over, immediately followed by Hardaway slipping on the court as well. Hardaway’s turnover would lead to a Loyer lay up that brought Purdue’s lead to six.
Braden Smith wasn’t his usual self scoring, going 2 of 14 from the floor, but had 11 assists, including a brilliant late bounce pass to Cluff for a clutch and-one to help close out the Tigers.
Despite foul trouble, TKR had another double-double, his third of the season, with 12 points and 11 rebounds to go with his four assists.
Purdue was more poised late after struggling with Memphis’ physicality and size at times and a whistle that heavily favored the Tigers. Memphis shot 25 free throws to Purdue’s 11.
Purdue’s win will have them advance to the Baha Mar Championship tomorrow where it’ll play the winner of Wake Forest and Texas Tech.