I came away from the Nebraska game both excited and horrified by what I saw. Purdue built up a 22 point lead against a top 10 team ON THE ROAD, before letting it all slip away and winning in overtime. One of the many issues I saw in the game, aside from the live ball turnovers, was Purdue’s seeming insistence on shooting with plenty of shot clock left while the clock was Nebraska’s worst enemy. Now, before I go through the timing of it all I want to point out that early shots aren’t necessarily bad and on multiple occasions it resulted in Purdue making a big shot. That was true of both of CJ Cox’s threes late in the second half to push the Purdue lead to 60-53 and then 65-53. Cox took those shots with 16 and 12 left on the shot clock respectively. Fletcher Loyer’s OT three to push the lead to 71-68 was also taken with 21 seconds on the shot clock, but it’s much different when the game is tied or you’re behind.
Overall, Purdue missed 16 shots in the second half or overtime with more than 13 seconds left on the shot clock. 13 of those attempts were three pointer, and 12 of the 16 were taken that early when Purdue had the lead.
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16:57 Fletcher Loyer missed a three pointer with 17 seconds left on the shot clock. 46-29 Purdue.
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16:47 Braden Smith missed a three pointer with 14 seconds left on the shot clock. 46-29 Purdue.
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16:17 Braden Smith missed a fade away jumper with 20 seconds left on the shot clock. 46-29 Purdue.
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15:23 CJ Cox missed a three with 18 seconds left on the shot clock. 48-29 Purdue.
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12:49 Gicarri Harris missed a three pointer with 13 seconds left on the shot clock. 52-33 Purdue.
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8:37 Braden Smith missed a three pointer with 14 seconds left on the shot clock. 54-43 Purdue.
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7:36 Fletcher Loyer missed a three pointer with 17 seconds left on the shot clock. 54-46 Purdue.
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7:04 Trey Kaufman-Renn misses a two point shot with 17 seconds left on the shot clock. 54-49 Purdue.
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5:37 Fletcher Loyer missed a three pointer with 13 seconds left on the shot clock. 57-51 Purdue.
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2:24 Braden Smith missed a three pointer with 14 seconds left on the shot clock. 67-55 Purdue.
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2:18 CJ Cox missed a three pointer with 13 seconds left on the shot clock. 67-55 Purdue.
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1:37 Fletcher Loyer missed a three pointer with 13 seconds left on the shot clock. 67-58 Purdue.
Now we move into overtime where you can justify these early in the shot clock attempts much easier since at this point you’re trying to take the lead and win the game.
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1:51 Fletcher Loyer missed a three pointer with 12 seconds left on the shot clock. 75-75.
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1:44 Oscar Cluff missed a two pointer with 17 seconds left on the shot clock. 75-75.
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:54 CJ Cox missed a three pointer with 17 seconds left on the shot clock. Purdue down 75-77.
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:16 Fletcher Loyer missed a three pointer with 16 seconds left on both the shot and game clock. Purdue down 76-77.
So there you have it. If Purdue had played smarter in that second half, worked more of the clock, and found different shots, or hell even had a shot clock violation on each of those possessions, Purdue would’ve won this in overtime. I understand you want to take a good shot when you have it, especially when Nebraska switched to that 1-3-1 zone, but if you’re going to keep firing away you’ve got to be cognizant of the clock which was basically Purdue’s 6th defender for most of the second half. By shooting so early in the shot clock Purdue gave Nebraska extra possessions when that was what they desperately needed to get back into the game.
Did Purdue pulling the trigger early strike you as out of character for them or was it just me? Am I off base here or onto something?
