March 13, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Purdue Boilermakers guard Fletcher Royer (2) defends Nebraska Cornhuskers guard Sam Hoiberg (1) during the first half at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Image Fletcher Loyer scored 19 points and seventh-seeded Purdue led for all but 27 seconds in a 74-58 win over second-seeded Nebraska in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Conference tournament on Friday in Chicago.
The 18th-ranked Boilermakers (25-8) will face either third-seeded Michigan State or sixth-seeded UCLA in Saturday’s semifinals.
Loyer hit four of Purdue’s 10 3-pointers, and CJ Cox drained three of her 12 points. Oscar Clough added 12 points and nine rebounds and Braden Smith had 10 assists.
It was Smith’s 38th 10-assist game, giving him 1,055 career assists and 21 behind Bobby Hurley for the NCAA record.
Nebraska (26-6) got 15 points from Price Sandport and 11 from Lienk Mast, who combined for six 3-pointers. However, the 11th-place Cornhuskers made only 10 of 31 3-pointers, with a shooting success rate of 39.3%, made only 9 free throws, and were outrebounded by 8 (37-29).
Purdue took full advantage of Nebraska’s 10 turnovers, scoring 17 points.
The Boilermakers led 41-28 at the break and pushed their lead up to 18 points three minutes into the second half. Nebraska made five straight shots to get within 56-45 with 9 minutes, 52 seconds left, and made it eight points on Sam Hoiberg’s 3-pointer with 8:24 left.
A 12-2 run gave Purdue a run, and Loyer’s fifth straight win made it 70-52 with 4:12 remaining.
Purdue jumped out to a 13-3 lead with three triples, including two by Cox. Nebraska’s 3-pointer got the team back on track, with Jared Garcia’s 3-pointer putting the Cornhuskers up 21-19 midway through the first half.
Cox was fouled on a 3-pointer and made each free throw to give the Boilermakers a 33-22 lead with 5:52 left. Two Loyer 3s increased the margin to 13 at halftime.
–Field level media
