For a while, Fletcher Loyer was the only part of Purdue's offense that really worked. No. 20 Purdue (10-4, 2-1 Big Ten) led Minnesota (8-6, 0-3) by just 1 at halftime, but found more offense from its stars – including Loyer – when the Boilers returned from the locker room in an 81-61 win.

Player stats below, with ratings to follow:

Smith attacked throughout the first half, to somewhat mixed results. But the final play of the first half showed the kind of game Smith was trying to play against the Gophers.

The junior caught the inbound pass, and watched Myles Colvin for a potential alley-oop like a quarterback surveying his first read. It wasn't there, and Smith dribbled right, somehow getting Dawson Garcia switched onto him, and he lost Garcia for an open, albeit long, step-back 3. He didn't force a pass inside. He didn't jump. He just missed.

Smith didn't miss many after that.

The biggest one came just as Minnesota began to crack the game's lid open with a 5-0 run with a few minutes to go, when Smith drained a straightaway 3 while "overrated" chants echoed throughout the sparsely populated Barn.

It sounded even less like a home game after that.

What would Purdue have done without Fletcher Loyer tonight?

The guard, often a clear third in Purdue's "Big Three" this year, took the scoring mantle by the reins. And he was scoring, not merely shooting. Most of Loyer's buckets came on the move, sometimes after faking a pass to shake his defender. Tonight's scoring outburst was a particularly wily one.

And the box score didn't even capture his total impact. The junior used the threat of his shooting to make a handful of valuable passes inside, many to Caleb Furst. Early in the second half, Loyer found Furst near the basket twice in quick succession, but the big man missed one and was fouled on the other. So the junior could have wound up with some assists to go along with his ridiculous scoring night.

Trey Kaufman-Renn moved well in the paint tonight, occupying his little sweet spot that allows him to back his man down or take a few dribbles and attack. Importantly, it makes him easy to find. Kaufman-Renn was on the end of more passes than I could count from Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer.

The big man wrangled three offensive boards, too, and made some big, bad man shots through contact, sometimes whistled.

CJ Cox earned his first start of the season and played 21 minutes, including 10 in the Boilers' big second half.

His box score line was mostly quiet, except for five rebounds from the freshman guard. Give him props for avoiding turnovers.

Dawson Garcia's 20 points weren't a complete reflection of Furst's defense, as the Minnesota forward spent enough time on the perimeter to put his name in the hat for the Bob Cousy award.

He often took Furst with him, which left the big man worrying about guarding the 3-point line and helping on Purdue's back side.

Furst's offensive night contained more good than bad. He missed some bunnies, but compiled 11 points, six rebounds (three offensive) and a block – and he was 5-of-6 from the line.

Another thing: his availability. Furst was Purdue's third most-played player with 30 minutes.

Forced a couple 3s on another cold shooting night. Two offensive rebounds, though.

Camden Heide banked in a 3 with less than 15 minutes left to snap a two-game scoreless streak. The sophomore tied for the team lead with six rebounds, and added three assists.

He was sometimes tasked with guarding Dawson Garcia down low, and couldn't do much with a physique made for leaping more than elbowing in the post.

He made a 3, his sixth of the year, and got an assist. That was about it in just eight minutes for the freshman. On his lone turnover, he played to character and hustled back on defense.

His seven minutes didn't give him much opportunity to impact the game, but when he was in, he wasn't exactly a positive for the Boilers. Burgess posted a -9 plus/minus.

A lot is anchored to Game Score, a metric invented by John Hollinger which (quite imperfectly) estimates a player's box score contributions. It's just a starting point for the grades, and it's readily available.During the game, I focus most of my attention on watching defensive reps, box-outs, offensive movement/involvement, and non-assist passing. I'll add all the off-ball value to these grades that my eyes can catch.

Further, these are role dependent – my grades answer a question that goes something like, "How well did a player take advantage of the opportunities they were given?"

Late game heroics earn bonus points, and the opposite is true for important errors. Oh, and I hate missed free throws.