Chicago, IL — The Purdue Boilermakers advanced to the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament with a 74–58 victory over the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Friday night.
Fletcher Loyer led Purdue with 19 points, while Braden Smith continued his standout play by dishing out 10 assists. C.J. Cox and Oscar Cluff each added 12 points, and Trey Kaufman-Renn finished with 10 points and nine rebounds.
Smith had already made tournament history the previous day, recording a Big Ten Tournament-record 16 assists in Purdue’s win over the Northwestern Wildcats. The senior guard now sits within reach of the NCAA career assists record, needing 22 more to surpass Bobby Hurley’s mark of 1,076 set with the Duke Blue Devils from 1989 to 1993.
The win pushed Purdue to 25–8 and marked the program’s fourth trip to the Big Ten semifinals in the past five seasons. The Boilermakers rebounded well after finishing the regular season with four losses in their final six games.
Nebraska struggled to keep pace offensively despite solid shooting from long range. Pryce Sandford led the Cornhuskers with 15 points, while Rienk Mast contributed 11. Nebraska finished 10-for-31 from three-point range and 12-for-25 from inside the arc, dropping to 6–14 all-time in the conference tournament.
Purdue built a commanding lead midway through the second half, going up 48–30 with about 17 minutes remaining. Nebraska rallied and narrowed the gap to 58–50 after a driving layup by Cale Jacobsen with just under seven minutes left.
The Boilermakers quickly regained control with a decisive 14–2 run. Loyer knocked down a three-pointer and Cluff capped the surge with a dunk with just over three minutes remaining. Cox also connected from beyond the arc during the run that sealed the victory.
Purdue again controlled the boards, holding a 37–29 rebounding edge and outscoring Nebraska 26–18 in the paint.
Earlier this season, Purdue defeated Nebraska 80–77 in overtime in their only regular-season meeting, a game highlighted by Kaufman-Renn grabbing a career-high 19 rebounds.
Up Next: Purdue will face either the UCLA Bruins or the Michigan State Spartans in Saturday’s semifinal round.
