Fletcher Loyer stars as Purdue advances to 3rd straight Sweet 16, beating Miami 79-69

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Fletcher Loyer scored 24 points, Trey Kaufman-Renn had 19 points and nine rebounds, and No. 2 seed Purdue beat Miami 79-69 on Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, advancing to the Sweet 16 for the third straight time and seventh in the last nine years.

In his first game since breaking Bobby Hurley’s NCAA career record for assists, Braden Smith had 12 points and eight assists but was also harassed by Miami’s athletic guards into eight turnovers, matching his career high.

“We have a good team, we have good balance, and Braden is the guy that makes us go and he sets things off,” Boilermakers coach Matt Painter said. “I know he’s frustrated, but we were able to win and advance, and now we can play another day.”

Smith hit four free throws in the final minute after seventh-seeded Miami (26-9) had cut an 11-point deficit to 73-69, helping to secure Painter’s 500th victory in 21 seasons as Purdue’s coach.

“They’ve put in so much in all areas to be the best that they can be, and that’s how you end up getting a lot of victories, because you have really good players that are committed,” said Painter, who is just 12 short of Gene Keady’s school record.

Purdue (29-8) advances to face 11th-seeded Texas in the West Region semifinals Thursday in San Jose, California. It’ll be the teams’ first meeting since Purdue eliminated Texas in the second round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament.

Shelton Henderson led the Hurricanes with 18 points and eight rebounds while also frequently guarding Smith, and Malik Reneau had 16 points with seven turnovers. Miami matched the recognized NCAA record by increasing its win total by 19 from last season, when it went 7-24. Iowa State improved by 20 wins after the pandemic-impacted 2020-21 season, when it only played five nonconference games.

“It’s hard to get here. It’s hard to be a part of March Madness. It’s hard to win a game,” first-year coach Jai Lucas said. “So I am just appreciative of that.”

Kaufman-Renn followed Loyer’s driving layup with a three-point play as Purdue created a little breathing room with an 11-3 run in the second half. Loyer’s steal set up a fast-break layup by Smith that pushed the Boilermakers’ advantage to 68-57 with 5:32 to play.

Henderson, who is six inches taller and 70 pounds heavier than Smith, said the emphasis was on being physical. Painter quipped that Henderson could also play football for the Hurricanes.

“The thing with him is you’ve got to try to limit him as much as possible because he’s the engine to the machine. Everybody knows that,” Lucas said. “And so we tried to deny him. We tried to trap him. … We just had to give him different looks. We tried to make him as uncomfortable as possible.”

Smith had more turnovers (four) than assists (two) in an uncharacteristic first half while making just one of his six shots. He ended up 3 for 12 from the field,

And yet, he still made critical contributions, including combining with Loyer to go 14 for 14 from the foul line.

“I hold myself to a higher standard. It was a bit frustrating,” Smith said. “Obviously I wanted shots to fall, but win and advance, and we move on.”

Loyer, the school’s record holder for 3-pointers, also made all four of his 3s as Purdue was 57% from behind the arc.

After Miami’s strong start that included an alley-oop dunk by Ernest Udeh Jr. just after the opening tip, Loyer powered Purdue into the lead with 10 points during a 13-2 surge. His second 3-pointer in that run put Purdue up 19-12 with 12:19 left in the first half.

The Hurricanes whittled away at the deficit, limiting Smith’s efficacy, and reclaimed the lead on Richardson’s two-handed jam that made it 31-29 with 4:01 to go before halftime. Miami led 40-38 at the break after Tre Donaldson’s transition layup in the closing seconds.

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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness