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Purdue overcomes Braden Smith’s rough day, drops Miami for third straight Sweet Sixteen appearance
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Two days after breaking Bobby Hurley’s record for most career assists in Division 1 men’s basketball history, Purdue‘s Braden Smith posted a sloppy stat line during Sunday’s NCAA Tournament Round of 32 game against Miami in St. Louis.
Fortunately, Fletcher Loyer and Trey Kaufman-Renn did their part — and then some.
Loyer and Kaufman-Renn combined for 43 points on 14-of-23 shooting as the second-seeded Boilermakers knocked off the seventh-seeded Hurricanes, 79-69. The win claimed the program’s third consecutive Sweet Sixteen appearance and its seventh in the past 10 seasons.
Purdue, which improved to 29-8, will now face 11th-seeded Texas on Thursday night in San Jose. Miami’s season ends at 26-9.
Purdue got the job done despite a rough afternoon from Smith, its All-American point guard. In 38 minutes, Smith recorded eight assists but turned it over eight times. He scored 12 points and was just 3-of-12 from the field, despite going a perfect 4-for-4 from the free-throw line.
The Boilermakers trailed 40-38 at halftime but, after a back-and-forth affair in the second half, eventually went up double-digits as a Smith layup made it a 68-57 advantage with 5:32 remaining. The Hurricanes got within 73-69 with 57 seconds left, but Purdue was able to salt it away from the line to punch its ticket to yet another regional semifinal.
Loyer finished with 24 points and was 6-of-7 from the floor, hitting on all four of his three-point tries and sinking all eight of his free throws. In fact, Purdue was 21-of-22 from the stripe. Kaufman-Renn added 19 points on an 8-of-16 day from the field while adding nine rebounds. C.J. Cox chipped in 11 in 18 minutes before being forced to leave the game with a knee injury.
Shelton Henderson led Miami with 18 points and eight rebounds.