The No. 1 Purdue Boilermakers opened their 2025-26 college basketball campaign on Tuesday night at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Indiana, and it went as well as expected for Matt Painter's squad. With Fletcher Loyer leading the charge, Purdue basketball easily took care of business at home, crushing the visiting Evansville Purple Aces to the tune of an 81-52 score for the Boilermakers' first victory of the season.
Loyer, who returns for his senior season with Purdue, had a fine night dismantling Evansville's defense from the perimeter. The sweet-shooting guard finished the contest with 30 points on 8-for-11 shooting from the field, while also knocking down a total of seven shots from behind the arc.
Loyer entered the Evansville game needing just three made 3-pointers to become the 10th player in the history of Purdue basketball to have at least 200 treys in their career with the Boilermakers, as shared as well by the team's official account on X, formerly Twitter. He was able to reach that mark in the first half, where he scattered a total of 18 points on 6-for-8 shooting from the floor and 5-for-7 from the 3-point region. It was a shooting clinic from Loyer, as the Boilermakers took a 40-22 lead into the half.
Loyer has always carried the reputation for being a lethal scorer from range. During his first three seasons with Purdue basketball, he posted an impressive success rate of 40.0 percent from deep on 4.5 3-point attempts per game. And against Evansville, he showed that he remains as effective as ever in his role as a marksman for the Boilermakers, who have made it to the NCAA Tournament in each of the last five seasons.
Meanwhile, Jack Benter and Daniel Jacobsen added 11 points apiece for Purdue in the win over the Purple Aces, who were held down to just 30.0 percent shooting from the field. Conversely, Loyer and the Boilermakers connected on 47.5 percent of their shots.
Purdue has another lightweight to deal with in its next game against the Oakland Golden Grizzlies (No. 207 on KenPom) this coming Friday at home before the Boilermakers take on their first real test of the season. That will be their date on No. 13 in Tuscaloosa versus the No. 15 Alabama Crimson Tide.
