No. 2 Purdue advances to 3rd straight Sweet 16 with win over No. 7 Miami
The Boilermakers have now won at least two games in each of the last three NCAA tournaments after a massive first-round upset loss in 2023.
Purdue is back in the Sweet 16. The No. 2 Boilermakers advanced to the second week of the NCAA tournament for the third straight season with a 79-69 win over No.
7 Miami on Sunday. Purdue went on an 11-3 run with less than 10 minutes to go to turn a 57-54 lead into a 68-57 advantage with 5:32 to go. That 11-point advantage was Purdue’s largest lead of the game.
Guard Fletcher Loyer missed just one shot all game. Loyer scored 24 points as he was 6-of-7 from the field, 4-of-4 from behind the arc, and 8-of-8 from the free-throw line. As a team, Purdue made its first 15 free throws before Oscar Cluff’s miss with less than three minutes to go.
Miami got Purdue’s lead to four with less than a minute to go, but the Hurricanes were never able to get it to a one-possession game thanks in part to that free-throw shooting. Purdue finished 21-of-22 from the line and was 8-of-14 from behind the arc. Putting the 2023 NCAA tournament further in the rear-view mirror Purdue does not look like a program haunted by one of the biggest upsets in NCAA tournament history.