With 9:28 left in the first half last night Texas Tech’s JT Toppin, a potential first round draft pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, scored on a tip-in to knot the score at 20-20. To that point, the Boilers an Red Raiders had played a pretty even game, as was expected for a game between a pair of top 15 teams. There had already been four lead changes and that marked the third tie of the night. The atmosphere in the arena was similar to the night before against Memphis, which was a hard-nosed, back-and-forth game. More of that was expected, as both teams have the talent to be playing into April.
Just 14 seconds later Fletcher Loyer connected on a midrange jumper that would serve to give Purdue the lead for good. It also unleashed a storm of basketball that showcased exactly why Purdue is considered to be the best team in America. It started the night just looking for a resume win. It ended the night with walk-on Aaron Fine stunting alley-oops to Daniel Jacobsen.
For that final nine minutes and 14 seconds Purdue not only ran nearly flawless offense for a 29-6 run that wasn’t even slowed down by two media timeouts and a third Red Raider timeout, it also played such stifling defense that you could see Texas Tech visibly wilt in the crucible of a Bahamian ballroom.
Nine minutes and 14 seconds.
That interval of time was more than basketball. It was a statement. It was Purdue throwing down the early gauntlet of “If you want to beat us, THIS is what you’re going to have to beat.” It wasn’t against some overmatched low major in Mackey Arena in a glorified warm-up game. This was a game in a tournament atmosphere against a top 15 team that had last season’s eventual national champion on the ropes with a 10-point lead and under six minutes to go in the second half of their Elite Eight game.
Simply put: If Purdue plays like it did in that nine minutes and 14 seconds there is not a team in the country that can beat it.
And now everyone knows it.
So let’s have a look at it:
**9:14 –** It starts simple enough. Fletcher Loyer does his best Reggie Miller impression, running around screen after screen. Daniel Jacobsen sets a high one as Loyer comes out of the paint and begins a curl back toward the basket. A pair of dribbles later and Fletch is at his spot, burying an elbow jumper to give Purdue the last for good.
It should also be noted who is on the floor to start this sequence. National Player of the Year candidate Braden Smith is on the bench. All-American Trey Kaufman-Renn is on the bench. This is a brief period of game time where they are getting key rest for later. Omer Mayer and Jack Benter are on the floor in therir spots, so the only two starters out there are Loyer and CJ Cox. This is not even Purdue’s best lineup.
**8:45 –** Purdue’s defense settles in, making the Red Raiders work the shot clock before Donovan Atwell misses a decent look at a three, his first miss of the night. Benter gets the rebound and gets it to Mayer.
**8:35 –** Purdue gets up the floor and Mayer connects on a fallaway jumper, making it 24-20.
**7:22 –** Purdue gets two stops, including a nice hustle play by Benter to bounce the ball off of a Tech player going out of bounds. This is when Smith and TKR sub in for Mayer and Benter. The move pays off as TKR gets an offensive rebound and then sets up the clear out to go one-on-one with Toppin.
This is the matchup we all wanted to see. Two of the most skilled forwards in the country going at each other. TKR does his Matrix glitch spin move and scores on the goal tend, leading to the media timeout.
**7:05 –** Christian Anderson hits a friendly roll three to cut Purdue’s lead in half to 26-23. It would be the last Texas Tech would score for over six minutes.
**6:36 –** Jacobsen sets the high screen and Smith gets to his spot on the wing, burying his first three of the tournament. After a 2 for 13 night the previous night it was a visibly cathartic three for Braden.
**6:00 –** Purdue gets a stop on a missed three and gets back into its set. This time Loyer finds Jacobsen with position and he posts his man into a nifty little hook. 31-23.
**5:27 –** Anderson misses a shot for his second straight possession and Jacobsen rebounds. This is where the crowd really begins to turn things. Smith drives, then finds Cox in the corner. Cox sidesteps the defender as he commits to the block, then calmly buries a triple. Bedlam. 34-23. Timeout, Grant McCasland. At this point Purdue is just 8 points into scoring 20 straight if you want a preview of how effective the timeout is at stopping the run.
**5:10** – Toppin turns it over on a double dribble, leading to what I view as the best possession of the game.
**4:39 –** Notice the 31 seconds between Purdue takes possession and when Loyer is officially credited with the three. This is a possession where Texas Tech really busts ass defensively. They are desperate to get a stop and stem the tide. After a sideline inbounds from TKR every player on the floor for Purdue touches the ball while facing excellent defensive pressure, including a double team of TKR in the corner with 8 seconds left in the shot clock. He dribbles out of it and rifles a cross-court pass to Cox, who finds Jacobsen inside. Jacobsen could go hard to the rim, but he faces a challenge, so he kicks it back out to Loyer. He dribbles right to shake Tyeree Brandon, then releases a top of the key three to beat the shot clock.
This is pretty much a flawless possession. Purdue runs its offense and completes multiple passes between all five players. Even with the shot clock winding down it gets the ball to its best shooter in one of his favorite spots. With 8 seconds left it looked like a lost possession as TKR was nearly trapped and dribbles out of it. It ends with a three that effectively ended the game.
This is one of my favorite possessions of Purdue basketball ever. It is just perfect. I want to put it in a glass case and admire it like art.
**4:02 –** Toppin commits a foul on a rebound, and Smith gets the ball to Loyer on a curl. His quick release moving to his right is swished for a second straight three.
**3:35 –** Purdue has scored 14 straight to this point and now it officially has Texas Tech in hell. The defense on this possession leads to a wild throw out of bounds on a turnover. At this point you could visually see that the Red Raiders were broken. Between the crowd, Purdue’s offense, and the defense that forced this turnover, the game was over. This leads to the third timeout since the overall run started thanks to the media timeout.
**3:22 –** TKR makes it 16 straight with the little dream shake. Tech then almost immediately turns it over.
**2:00 –** Things slow down for a bit, as Purdue responds with a turnover of its own, but gets a stop and a Cluff rebound. After another possession of great ball movement Cluff finds Benter at the top of the key. Feeling it, he drives and scores, making it 18 straight.
**1:28 –** After another miss Purdue comes back down. Smith drives into the paint and looks like he is going to attack the rim. He is met by a much taller individual there ready to swat him into oblivion. No matter, though. He shot fakes, then passes it to his own much larger gentleman in Cluff (who has been dubbed “Big Braden” in the staff group char thanks to his attitude and beard), who scores. It is now 20 straight, and Texas Tech would clearly rather be anywhere else on earth, except maybe Mackey. If this stretch had happened in Mackey I wouldn’t have blamed Tech if they failed to come out of the locker room at halftime. Also, if this stretch happened in Mackey 14,000+ people would have been Raptured to basketball heaven.
**1:04 –** Once again, Purdue’s defense has Tech so flustered they simple throw it out of bounds.
**0:47 –** Smith has a rare turnover on a travel, negating a nice fallaway. Anderson hits a three to finally stop the bleeding with a three.
**0:05 –** Purdue runs the clock down for the final shot. Smith decides to go one-on-one, comes off of a screen from Cluff, and buries a three to close the run. It’s a closing 29-6 run in a little over nine minutes.
Just look back at that. It is a nine minute stretch of basketball dominated not by a single individual player, but an entire team just playing nearly flawless basketball on both ends of the floor. Eight different players scored for Purdue during the run. It was pure, unselfish basketball as everyone played off of everyone else.
How do you beat a team playing like that? Seriously. Just, how? This run started with Purdue’s two All-Americans on the bench and its main second unit on the floor. It ended with the National Player of the Year burying a half-ending three for the second straight night. They took a confident, talented team that is among the nation’s best and completely,surgically took them apart on both ends of the floor for nine minutes.
A few years ago Grant McCasland parlayed a first round upset of Purdue into the Texas Tech job from North Texas. None of Purdue’s roster was in that North Texas game, but McCasland had the look on his face late in the first half like he regretted that sequence of events at Lucas Oil Stadium in 2021 leading to last night.
Folks, Purdue is the best team in the country.
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