Fletcher Loyer is 'fine'; Purdue Wednesday NCAA Tournament notebook

PROVIDENCE — It was a scary moment at the Big Ten Tournament when Fletcher Loyer went down hard on his left elbow, then walked off with the arm dangling.

He was unfazed, though.

“I don’t really get scared,” Loyer joked Wednesday. “Except maybe spiders.”

The injury, being called a “sprain,” looked worse than it actually was, it sounds like. Loyer was scanned and thoroughly evaluated after the loss to Michigan.

Today, as Purdue prepares to meet High Point in the NCAA Tournament, Loyer says he’s fine.

And he looks fine. The Boilermaker sharp-shooter will wear a sleeve on his left arm, but he didn’t look adversely affected at all during Purdue’s open practice/shoot-around Wednesday at Amica Mutual Pavilion. (The Boilermakers’ serious practice was scheduled for the afternoon at Brown University.)

“It’s fine,” Loyer said. “I’ll be good to play. I’ve been working out the past few days and shooting and it feels good.”

Loyer was hurt vs. Michigan at the Big Ten Tournament when he lunged to save a loose ball and fell awkwardly out of bounds. He was helped off the floor, but later returned to the game, per the player’s wish.

The junior averages 13.8 points and shoots 46.4 percent from three-point range.

Practically speaking, his game experience on this team is matched only by classmate Braden Smith and the steadiness, post-entry savvy and floor-spacing he provides have been essential elements to really potent offenses during his career.

CREIGHTON CONNECTION

As former Greg McDermott assistant coaches have become a hot commodity in the coaching world — Darian DeVries at Indiana being the latest ascent — High Point coach Alan Huss was asked Wednesday about his time at Creighton with Purdue’s Paul Lusk.

“He certainly knows what we’re going to do,” Huss said. “We sat in the same meetings for a long time. Paul is a great friend, he was instrumental to our success. I wouldn’t be sitting here without him. When he arrived at Creighton, we went from being a team that kind of did jumping jacks (on defense) to becoming the defensive juggernaut that they are now, which is crazy to say. He was such a huge part in that growth process for our program there, but he knows what I’m going to do.”

Lusk was at Creighton from 2018-2021, replacing Steve Lutz (now Oklahoma State’s) coach after he moved to Purdue. When Lutz left Purdue for the head coaching job at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Lusk returned to Painter’s staff.

CJ COX BACK NEAR HOME

One of the last times that Purdue freshman CJ Cox made the short trip down from his native Boston area to Providence was to take a recruiting visit to Brown in the Ivy League, one of the smaller programs that thought they had an inside track on him before Painter found him.

Now, Cox will play his first-ever NCAA Tournament game in his old New England region stomping grounds.

“It’s really nice being able top play on the East Coast since this is so close to home and friends and family can come see me play,” Cox said. “Them getting to see me play at this level, this being March Madness, is kind of surreal to me. This is something I’ve always looked forward to.”

Cox expects a group of about 20 in Amica Mutual Pavilion Thursday.

“I”m very excited (about playing in the NCAA Tournament),” Cox said. “Watching Purdue’s run last year was really exciting for me. Being in that setting, that environment myself has been something I’ve really looked forward to.”