Purdue sees huge lead escape, then escapes with key win at Nebraska

LINCOLN, Neb. — After dominating for 30 minutes or so, then blowing a 20-point lead and having to play OT, Purdue escaped Nebraska by the skin of its teeth Tuesday night in Lincoln, winning 80-77 on Oscar Cluff’s bucket with 5.2 seconds left in overtime.

Purdue made four threes before the first media timeout of the first half and stifled Nebraska’s offense en route to jumping out to a 14-1 lead.

Purdue dominated the glass from the outset, with 10 second-chance points in the first half to show for it. The Boilermakers out-rebounded Nebraska by 17, as Kaufman-Renn and Cluff turned in dominant performances on the glass.

“We had 20 more possessions than them (Nebraska), and we needed all of them,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said.

PDF: Purdue-Nebraska stats

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PURDUE COACH MATT PAINTER

PURDUE’S BRADEN SMITH

PURDUE’S CJ COX

PURDUE’S OSCAR CLUFF

An 18-2 Nebraska run in the second half, however, brought a 22-point Purdue lead down to just five with seven minutes to play, but two clutch threes by CJ Cox and another by Jack Benter helped Purdue seemingly pull away.

At the end of regulation, though, the foul line killed Purdue. Smith missed a one-and-one, Loyer split a pair and Cox missed a pair. Purdue finished just 11 of 20 from the charity stripe.

In overtime, Purdue re-took the lead on Cluff’s basket with 5.2 seconds remaining, and a turnover by Nebraska allowed the Boilermakers to escape Lincoln victorious.

“Once I saw Fletch get stuck, I knew what his first thought was,” Cluff said. “His first thought was always to go for me, and I was ready to catch it and go.”

Fletcher Loyer scored 18 points to lead Purdue. Braden Smith went for 13, 10 assists and eight rebounds. Trey Kaufman-Renn grabbed 19 rebounds and Oscar Cluff 14.

Purdue set a school record by attempting 46 three-pointers, shattering the previous high mark of 36. Loyer’s 17 three-point attempts rank second in school annals, second only to Carsen Edwards’ 19 in the 2019 Elite Eight loss to Virginia.

While Purdue took 46 threes, it made just 13, good for 28.3%, and Loyer made just four of his 17 tries.

“We had a lot of really good looks that didn’t go down, especially in that second half, but our guys kept playing hard,” Painter said.

Next up, Purdue will take on Iowa in Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Saturday evening. A big second half from Braden Smith propelled the Boilermakers to a 69-61 victory over the Hawkeyes in West Lafayette last month.

“It’s just the beginning. We have a huge couple of games coming up and need to keep it rolling all the way until April,” Cluff said.