Late basket lifts Houston past Purdue, 62-60

INDIANAPOLIS – Reaching the Sweet 16 was probably the ceiling for this year’s Purdue team.

It challenged for the Big Ten title during the first half of the conference season before limping into the league tournament and the NCAA tournament after losing six of nine.

The Boilermakers took care of business in the first two rounds, outlasting High Point and McNeese State to bring the journey to Lucas Oil Stadium on Friday night against top-seeded Houston.

As advertised, the Cougars brought physicality, athletic ability throughout the lineup, and a ton of determination, but coach Matt Painter’s team needed to rise to the same level.

Down by 10 with 7:59 to play, No. 4 seed Purdue started to match those elements but couldn’t cross the finish line as Houston held off the late charge to post a 62-60 victory.

“Proud of our guys,” Painter said. “Proud of our guys for their commitment, their toughness, unselfishness, and just staying with it. Our guys didn’t hang their heads, and they fought, and we’re really close to making that move again.”

PDF: Purdue-Houston statistics

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The Cougars advanced to face No. 2 seed Tennessee in Sunday’s Midwest Regional final. The Volunteers defeated Kentucky in Friday’s first game.

Houston won the game on Milos Uzan’s lay-in off an inbounds play with 0.9 seconds to play. The Boilermakers couldn’t secure the defensive rebound on the previous play, giving the Cougars the ball with 2.8 seconds to play.

“If the guy guarding the inbounder takes the roller, then the guy that threw the ball in is going to be open, and that’s what we read,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. “(Joseph Tugler) set a great screen, and I think (LJ Cryer) dragged two guys with him, which means we were four on three. We’re always talking to our guys about hunting numbers advantages.”

Uzan finished with 22 points to lead the Cougars, who used an 11-1 run to start the second half to seize control.

Fletcher Loyer had 16 points, Trey Kaufman-Renn added 14 and Braden Smith finished with 15 assists, including 11 in the second half when Purdue totaled 11 field goals.

Trailing 56-46 after back-to-back 3-pointers by Uzan, the season was on the cusp of ending. But Myles Colvin and Loyer scored consecutive jumpers and Camden Heide’s 3-pointer started a string of five straight points to bring Purdue within 57-55 with 4:17 left.

LJ Cryer, who was 2 of 13 from the field, drained a 3-pointer to extend the advantage to five. After empty possessions on both ends, Heide hit a 3-pointer from the corner to tie the score at 60 with 35 seconds to play. Heide had nine points on three 3-pointers.

“I thought we fought really hard, and we dug down deep defensively to get those stops to come back,” Smith said. “We did everything we could and just had a little miscommunication at the end. They converted on it, so props to them.”

Loyer was the offense in the first 12 minutes. The Cougars couldn’t rotate quickly enough to cover Loyer, who drained his open looks. The junior guard had 12 of Purdue’s first 16 points.

From there, freshman C.J. Cox got rolling with seven points in a two-minute stretch, giving the Boilermakers a 26-23 lead. Houston kept answering using a 6-0 run – which seemed significant in the first half – to move ahead 29-26 with 1:27 before halftime.

Smith, though, answered with a 3-pointer from the corner. After withstanding two second-chance opportunities by the Cougars, Purdue had the last shot before halftime. Smith was patient, dribbled to the left, and baited Houston’s Mylik Wilson into a foul on his jumper.

Painter pumped his fist in the air, and Smith made both free throws to give the Boilermakers a 31-29 lead at intermission.

Second-chance opportunities kept the Cougars close in the first half, scoring nine points after nine offensive rebounds. It allowed Houston to overcome 30.0% shooting during the first 20 minutes as Cryer went 0 of 6 and didn’t score.

For the game, Houston outrebounded Purdue 38-29, including 16 offensive rebounds that led to 20 points. The final basket was a second-chance opportunity for the Cougars.

Outside of Loyer and Cox, Purdue struggled from the field. The pair made 6 of 9, but the rest of the team converted 4 of 19, including 1 of 7 from 3-point range.