Loyer shoots No. 1 Purdue past Memphis 80-71 in the Bahamas

NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) — Fletcher Loyer scored 20 points to lead No. 1 Purdue to an 80-71 victory over Memphis on Thursday night at the Baha Mar Championship.

CJ Cox added 18 points for Purdue (5-0). He and Loyer each made four 3-pointers. Trey Kaufman-Renn finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds and four assists before fouling out after 27 minutes, and reigning Big Ten Player of the Year Braden Smith had 11 assists.

Dug McDaniel paced Memphis (1-3) with 18 points, six assists and six rebounds. Zach Davis chipped in 11 points.

The game featured nine lead changes and six ties. Trailing by two, momentum seemed to swing in Purdue’s direction with 7:54 to play when Memphis forward Aaron Bradshaw fouled out after getting a technical following an altercation with Purdue's Oscar Cluff. The game was physical and chippy throughout, with three technical fouls given out by officials.

Loyer sank the pair of technical free throws, which was the start of a 17-5 game-sealing run for the Boilermakers. The late surge featured a sequence from Loyer where he connected on a fast-break layup and then sank a 3-pointer seconds later, giving Purdue a nine-point advantage with under 3 1/2 minutes to play.

Memphis had shot better than 50% from the floor and 3-point range in each of its last three games against AP top-five teams. Against Purdue, the Tigers were just 4 for 19 (21%) behind the arc.

The Tigers played without 6-foot-11 senior center Thierno Sylla, who the team said did not make the trip to the Bahamas due to personal reasons.

Up next

Staying in the Bahamas, Purdue will face the winner of Thursday night’s clash between No. 15 Texas Tech and Wake Forest on Friday night. Memphis will take on the loser before that.

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