Upset loss in 2023 helps ignite Purdue
Purdue guard Fletcher Loyer speaks at a press conference during practice before the Final Four at State Farm Stadium.
A little more than a year ago, the Purdue Boilermakers were sitting at home watching the rest of the NCAA tournament, having been bounced from March Madness by a No. 16 seed, Fairleigh Dickinson, in the first round.
The Boilermakers became the first No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 seed that came out of the First Four, and the second No. 1 seed to lose to any 16. Now Purdue is in the Final Four, the loss to a 16 seed in the rear view mirror.
Except it’s not. Losing 63-58 that day in Columbus, Ohio, as 231⁄2-point favorites is something still fresh in the minds of the Boilermakers who were there, and it has served as motivation for redemption as Purdue has marched all the way to the Final Four.
“That first round loss still sticks with us. We know that feeling we had in the locker room. We know all the hate we got, all the messages, all the doubt we got from people. And it just keeps us together. It keeps us focused,” Purdue guard Fletcher Loyer said.
Loyer missed a 3-pointer in that game that would have tied the score in the final seconds. He was asked the difference between last season’s team and that of this season.
“Really the difference is how connected we are. I think there’s no letups, there’s no side missions, everybody’s focused on one thing. And that’s winning the national championship,” Loyer said.
Center Zach Edey, the national player of the year the past two seasons, said the loss to Fairleigh Dickinson is still something he’s thought about, and it fuels him.
“But you don’t want to let it consume you. You want to use that motivation, but you can’t let it overtake you,” said Edey, who had 21 points and 15 rebounds in that 2023 game. “In this tournament, everybody understands what these games mean and what we need to do and just approach it with that mindset.”
Guard Braden Smith said he embraced the loss for a week, came to understand what happened and what he could have done better, and then got back in the gym to focus on the next season.
“That team was there for a reason. They’re a good team and they caught us on a bad day,” Smith said. “So they deserved it.
“Now we’re here,” Smith added. Forward Mason Gillis had 10 points and seven rebounds against Fairleigh Dickinson, but made just 1 of 7 3-point tries.
He said the Boilermakers remembered the last game of last season when they trailed by 11 against Tennessee in the regional final last weekend.
“We looked at each other and we were like, ‘Guys, we’re good. We’ve been through this before we trust each other. Just keep playing your game, stay aggressive,’” Gillis said. It was ‘Gonna get a couple of stops right here. And we’ll be alright.’ And that’s what we did. We came back, and we came back a lot this year. And just being able to trust each other, being able to have the open conversations about it and not shy away from it is the biggest thing.
“We look at everything as a challenge that we can overcome, rather than a challenge that I don’t know if we’re going to be able to do this,” Gillis added.