Purdue hot from deep as Huskers get blown out in West Lafayette

Before his team took off for West Lafayette, Fred Hoiberg met with the media on Friday to talk about today’s game against No. 20 Purdue.

One of the main takeaways? Hoiberg didn’t want the late collapse and overtime loss at Iowa to linger. Not linger physically, but mentally. Another key point made by the head coach: missed shots on one end can’t create substandard play on the other.

But almost as soon as the opening tip against the Boilermakers Sunday, it looked like Tuesday’s deflating loss in Iowa City made a dent in the Huskers’ psyche that’s still in the process of being repaired.

Behind a whopping 19 3-pointers, Purdue beat Nebraska 104-68 inside Mackey Arena to drop the Huskers to 12-4 overall and 2-3 against conference opponents. All four losses have come away from the friendly confines of Pinnacle Bank Arena.

Since joining the Big Ten, Nebraska is now winless in nine tries in West Lafayette. Mackey Arena is the only place among the 13 Big Ten schools — heading into this season — where Nebraska has not won on the road.

Oh, and about those 19 3s? They set a new record for most made 3s from a Nebraska opponent, besting the old record of 18 from 2020. Five days ago, Iowa connected on 17 3s.

Thanks to a 14-0 run early in the first half, Nebraska found itself trailing 24-7 in the blink of an eye. Purdue went on to grab a 45-28 lead at halftime and enjoyed an opening 20 minutes that included a 64% overall shooting percentage and a 62% mark on 3-pointers (8-of-13).

Braden Smith, Purdue’s excellent point guard, ended his first half with five points and eight assists. Smith finished with eight points, 14 assists and two steals. C.J. Cox, a freshman guard, had a career day with 23 points and went 5-of-7 from 3. Fletcher Loyer, a 6-5 guard, scored 19 points and went 5-of-6 from deep. Trey Kaufman-Renn did the inside-the-arc damage for Purdue, scoring 15 points with seven assists.

As a team in the first half, Purdue had more assists (14) than Nebraska’s made field goals (12). When the final buzzer sounded, Purdue’s assist count stood at 32 while Nebraska’s made field goals were 26.

On top of Purdue making an absurd amount of 3s and Nebraska’s defense struggling to keep up with the Boilermakers’ impressive ball movement, the Husker offense couldn’t take care of the ball.

Nebraska had nine turnovers in the first half and 17 in the game. The Boilermakers held a 22-11 edge in points off turnovers.

“Obviously not the start we wanted with the turnovers early in the first half,” Hoiberg told Huskers Radio Network after the game. “Think we shot 50 percent at halftime, and we were getting it handed to us. We couldn’t take care of the ball. I thought we had some spirited contests early, they made shots. But when those went down, they got comfortable and obviously they were very tough to shut off.”

Purdue was better in every aspect of Sunday’s game. The Boilermakers made their presence felt on the boards, too, where they held a 33-20 edge. Purdue grabbed nine offensive boards to Nebraska’s four and won the second-chance-points category 14-4.

While Nebraska shot 48% overall, it was just 22% (6-of-27) from 3. Brice Williams, the top scorer for the Huskers, ended his day with a season-low nine points, four assists and four turnovers. Purdue’s defense bothered him all night. It’s only the second time in 16 games Williams was held out of double figures.

And after going scoreless in the first half, Connor Essegian provided offense off the bench, though it was too little too late, and scored 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting with three 3s.

“We have to find a way to bounce back,” Hoiberg said. “This team has done that for the most part. We’re 2-3 in league now with two home wins and three losses on the road. We have to find a way to regroup, get back, protect the ball and we’ll get another chance on the road (Maryland) next weekend.”

Nebraska hosts Rutgers (8-8, 1-4) on Thursday night, and that will be a late tip scheduled for 8 p.m.

The Scarlet Knights, which host No. 22 UCLA on Monday, are currently riding a three-game losing streak with defeats coming to Purdue (68-50), Wisconsin (75-63) and Indiana (84-74). Head coach Steve Pikiell’s team also has a loss on the resume to both Princeton (83-82) from Dec. 21 and Kennesaw State (79-77) from Nov. 24.

There’s a connection between Nebraska and Rutgers this season — Husker wing Gavin Griffiths played for the Scarlet Knights last season.

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