Purdue didn't win these games last year.


Zach Edey was in foul trouble. Mason Gillis was in foul trouble. Caleb Furst was in foul trouble. Trey Kaufman-Renn was in foul trouble. All four Purdue bigs had two fouls going into the half.


Braden Smith wasn't making shots. Lance Jones wasn't making shots. Trey Kaufman-Renn wasn't making shots. Mason Gillis wasn't making shots. Myles Colvin wasn't making shots. Caleb Furst wasn't making shots.


Combined, those six players went 0 for 12 from the floor in the first half. Until Furst knocked down a free throw with just over two minutes left in the first half, Zach Edey was the only Boilermaker with points besides Fletcher Loyer.


Loyer scored Purdue's first 7 points a day after going 0 for 6 in Purdue's first Maui Invitational game, a 73-63 win over Gonzaga.


It's been a growing concern, Loyer's play, particularly on the offensive side of the ball. After being Purdue's second leading scorer last season, Loyer set his career-low in points in Purdue's second game of the season with 2, and then matched it against Gonzaga. Loyer had gone 1 of 9 from three in his last three games. A concerning trend after finishing last season going 1 of 10 in his last five games.

In Purdue's second game of the Maui Invitational against the best defensive team in the country, Tennessee, Loyer didn't quite break out of his shooting slump, going just 3 of 10 from three, but he did carry Purdue to victory, confirming his identity as one of Purdue's core players.

Fletcher Loyer looks a certain way, and plays a certain way that makes you think he's a better shooter than he has been. In his freshman season, he made 59-181 three-pointers or .326%. This year, he's 8 of 25 or .320%.


Loyer hasn't been as good a shooter as he knows he is. He's also better at everything else on the floor than he should be.


Loyer set a new career-high against a physical Tennessee team, going for 27 points.


In a game where Edey sat on the bench, and no one could make a shot, he accounted for 4 of Purdue's 3 made three-pointers and went 10-11 for the line. The rest of Purdue would go 19 of 37.


But it went beyond that. When Purdue needed a stop, Loyer was on the ground, diving for a ball and getting the steal. When Purdue needed to equalize, Loyer was grabbing a rebound and forcing a foul.


When Purdue looked like it might lose, Loyer showed why he was a winner.