1/12/2026 Boilermaker Water Cooler Chat: Mystery Edition
Rants, ravings, and somewhat sensical opinions following the wild, wacky, and wide-wide world of Purdue sports.
My wife and I went to a murder mystery dinner on Saturday. It was really funny, met some cool people, had a nice dinner, solved the mystery, got home in time to see the Bears beat the Packers. Pretty nice little date night.
When it comes to any sort of mystery, you have to put some thoughts together. You need to connect dots. You incessantly ask the question “why?” like a nosey toddler. Some things caught me off guard this week. Had me asking questions…
Why do the Bears only play 1/2 of a quarter a game, and how do they keep winning? Why do some teams shoot 20% higher than average when playing Purdue? Why is this bad team suddenly competent? Why can’t the final margin of victory reflect the totality of the game? How do Big Ten officials justify their paycheck? Why Shon Morris?
Trust me, I don’t have the brainpower to solve some of these mysteries. I’ll take a stab at it, I guess.
The Games:
Washington 73, #5 Purdue 81
What was really a 20-something victory spoiled by a garbage time run, Purdue continued their trend of taking their foot off of the gas late in blowouts.
Braden Smith led the way with 23 points, adding 7 assists. Trey Kaufman-Renn went for a 14-14 double-double, CJ Cox and Daniel Jacobsen finish in double digit scoring. A ho-hum student-less Wednesday night Big Ten game went the way of the home team.
Penn State 85, #5 Purdue 93
Penn State shot uncharacteristically well from beyond the arc, hitting 12 three pointers. Couple that with the worst officiating performance of the young Big Ten season, and you have this Saturday afternoon masterpiece.
Braden Smith continued his dominance, scoring 26 points and dishing out a gaudy 14 assists. Oscar Cluff scored 23, while providing hustle and physicality underneath. Fletcher Loyer added 17, and CJ Cox added 16.
Photo Gallery by Mark Elsner: https://iscpurdue.com/purdue-mens-basketball-vs-penn-st-1-10-26/
Break It Down:
A mysterious week of basketball, as a pair of 8 point victories pose many questions for Purdue.
Against Washington, Purdue dominated the majority of the game. They apparently got bored late, and decided to go home early. Washington won the last few minutes of the game, and cut what was a 23 point threshold to 8 by the final buzzer.
Against Penn State, Purdue seemed to never get out of 2nd gear. Luckily, 2nd gear was enough for this game to never feel in doubt, but it was still too close for comfort. Every time Purdue started extending the lead, Penn State would bank in a 3. Every time it looked like the Boilers started taking control, a phantom foul call would benefit Penn State. Every time Purdue had an opportunity to take advantage of a Penn State mistake, they’d miss the free throw. 2nd gear.
Yeah, Purdue is currently in first place in the Big Ten. Style points mean nothing. My goodness, it does not look good when there are single digit margins of victory against clearly overmatched teams. If Purdue could just keep their foot on the gas, instead of allowing games to be stressful annoying late, that would be much appreciated.
What Went Well:
- 6: Different players on Purdue’s roster scored in double figures this week. Balanced scoring is important, providing many different ways that Purdue can beat you.
- Two out of three: Ain’t bad for Omer Mayer. He shot 66% from 3 this week. While that isn’t the greatest weekly performance that Purdue has ever seen, Mayer has been struggling with his shot this season, and it is good to see them start to fall. We know he can hit ’em. He knows he can hit ’em. Hopefully a sign of more to come.
- Tri-Headed Monster: The three headed hydra, or vicious Cerberus of TKR, Oscar Cluff, and Daniel Jacobsen is a force to be reckoned with. All three players scored in double digits once this week. TKR and Cluff seem to be taking turns dominating opponents this season. Then, throw in 7’4″ Jacobsen who will acts as the “change of pace” big man… tall order for opponents.
- 3: Turnovers against Penn State is excellent. When a team is shooting lights out, taking care of the ball is paramount.
Opportunities for Improvement:
- 14: Turnovers against Washington, is awful. 6 each from TKR and Braden. In fairness, these two were the running the offense all game so there were plenty of opportunities to turn the ball over. Still, far too many.
- Keep The Pedal: To the floor. All gas, no breaks. Yes, I am glad that Purdue is winning, but by taking your foot off of the gas, teams are clawing back into games. It is great to be up by so much that you can take a quarter of a game off and still win, but it is better to just, you know, nail the coffin shut.
- Michael Irving: Is a new name on my “I now know your name as a basketball official” list. Bo Boroski, DJ Carstensen, Paul Szelc, Courtney Green, Jeffrey Anderson, Larry Scirotto, Ed Hightower… you know these names. Infamously awful basketball officials from the Big Ten. Introducing: Michael Irving. Irving made the worst call that I have seen all season, as Fletcher Loyer was called for a foul on a Penn State 3 point shot, in which 1) There was no contact, and 2) The Penn State shooter attempted to jump into Loyer and missed drawing contact. A brutal anticipation call, which provoked several meme worthy reactions online. One call, however, doesn’t make you list worthy. While that call was embarrassing enough, several plays later Loyer was actually fouled on a 3, right in front of Irving, with no call. Painter gave him some heat. Fans got heated. Michael Irving fits right into the Big Ten, and the old adage rings true… if the fans know your name as an official, you’re probably doing a bad job.
- 43%: From free throw against Penn State. Several of those misses were front ends of 1 & 1s. While Purdue tends to be a good free throw shooting team this season, if Purdue hits a reasonable percentage of their freebies against PSU, they win by double digits.
One More Thing:
As someone who has done color commentary on several television broadcasts, I can assure you that the job is not easy. As someone who has botched several names on live broadcasts, I totally get it that sometimes you get flustered, sometimes you make mistakes. Sometimes you flub. I flub more than most other media folks. It is part of my “charm” and “Jeff Goldblum style”… anyways…
There is really zero reason why “Foster Loyer” is being said on a broadcast, other than if you are directly talking about, you know, Foster Loyer.
Just for clarification’s sake, Foster Loyer, former Michigan State / Davidson player, and current Brooklyn Nets coach… is Fletcher’s older brother. He was a perfectly serviceable player for a few seasons, several years ago.
Shon Morris, former Northwestern Wildcat, and color analyst for Saturday’s game dropped multiple “Foster” Loyers when referencing Fletcher on Saturday. Mistakes happen to the best of us, and they also happen to Shon Morris. So in order for help my fellow color-coordinator-cohort, here is a simple way to distinguish Foster from Fletcher.
Fletcher:
- 4 year starter at Purdue University.
- Several years B1G Superstar.
- Leading scorer on the #5 team in the nation.
- 1 Final Four, 1 National Runner Up.
- Over 40% career 3 point shooter.
- Statistically one of the best shooters in Big Ten History.
- Has had a historic career and is a household name in Big Ten fans’ circles.
- Tremendous haircut.
Foster:
- Doesn’t play basketball anymore & hasn’t played in 3 years.
- Hasn’t played in the Big Ten in 4 years.
Hope this helps.
Purdue Women’s Basketball:
WBB is trending up with 2 back to back victories in Big Ten play. On Sunday the Boilermakers tallied their first win over a ranked opponent since 2022-23 and the first at home since 2018-19. Additionally Madison Layden-Zay became the Purdue career 3-point leader passing Karissa McLaughlin’s record of 244 3-pointers in a career with her triple at the 3:25 mark of the fourth quarter. Layden-Zay now stands alone in the Purdue Women’s record book with 246 triples and counting.
Purdue-Washington Photo Gallery: https://iscpurdue.com/purdue-womens-basketball-vs-washington-1-11-26/
A Look Ahead:
#5 (as of this writing) Purdue may be moving up in the rankings, as #2 Michigan fell to hapless Wisconsin at home this past week. However, Purdue has been so “under the radar” and written off since the Iowa State loss, that I doubt they will move up come Monday’s poll. Fun fact, since that Iowa State loss, several computer models have Purdue listed as the “best team in the nation per metrics”. That and a few quarters, will buy you a cup of coffee.
Anyways, Purdue will start the week off still at home, with a big one on Wednesday. The (as of this writing) #19 Iowa Hawkeyes come into Mackey Arena for a 6:30 tip (BTN). Following that, Purdue will pull its Southern California road trip, heading to USC on Saturday, 6:00 (Peacock).
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