Fletcher Loyer Delivers Hilarious Quote About Matt Painter After Win Over Alabama
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Ideally, Matt Painter would like his team to finish a game with 10 turnovers or less. That's the magic number this season. So, when the Boilermakers ended the night with just three against Alabama, the coach was thrilled, according to junior guard Fletcher Loyer.
Limiting turnovers was a huge key to No. 13 Purdue's success against No. 2 Alabama on Friday night, resulting in an 87-78 win at Mackey Arena.
In the postgame press conference, Loyer was asked how his coach responded to finishing the night with just three turnovers. His response drew a large laugh from the media.
"Yeah, he was excited," Loyer said of Painter. "He smiled in the locker room."
Purdue had struggled with turnovers in its first two games against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Northern Kentucky, The Boilermakers had 16 in the opener against the Islanders and had 13 more against the Norse.
Things were cleaner against Yale, totaling just 10 turnovers. But Purdue protected the basketball extremely well against Alabama. Loyer and his teammates saw how much it helps when they're not giving away possessions.
"It's just something that he emphasizes so much, something that has given us losses in the past," he said. "Against a team like Alabama, which is really good in transition, you just can't turn it over."
There were other factors that played a role in Purdue's win on Friday night. The Boilers made nine-of-16 shots from behind the 3-point line and held Alabama to just 31% shooting from long range.
It was a complete team effort.
With Friday night's win, Purdue improved to 4-0 on the season. The Boilers have another big game on Tuesday, traveling to play No. 15 Marquette on Tuesday. It will be the first road trip of the season for Painter's team.
Asking Purdue to end the game with three turnovers might be a bit much, but if they finish with fewer than 10 again, the Boilermakers will have a great chance to improve to 5-0.
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