ST. LOUIS — Purdue basketball lost a starter less than three minutes into the second half of Sunday’s NCAA Tournament Round of 32 game against Miami.
Sophomore guard C.J. Cox went down hard while driving to the basket for a potential breakaway layup with 17:04 remaining. He grabbed his right knee and stayed on the floor in pain, shouting as he received attention, for a while before walking off.
Miami picked Trey Kaufman-Renn to shoot the free throws since Cox was injured. He made both to push the Boilermaker lead to 47-42.
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At the under-16 TV timeout, a team spokesperson said Cox was trying to run on the knee back by the locker room area. He was questionable to return with a right leg injury.
Cox had been instrumental in Purdue’s surge back from a seven-point deficit late in the first half. He made three 3-pointers in the final 1:49, including one which tied the game with under 10 seconds to go. Cox exited with 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting, 3 for 4 on 3s, one rebound and one assist in 18 minutes.
Miami’s Tre Donaldson came down and scored for a 40-38 halftime lead.
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