WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Fletcher Loyer scored 18 points and made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 51 seconds left Saturday to lead No. 12 Purdue past pesky Oregon 68-64. He closed it out by making three of four free throws in the waning seconds.
Braden Smith finished with 13 points, four rebounds and four assists as the Boilermakers (19-4, 9-3 Big Ten) won their second straight since breaking a three-game losing streak. Purdue has played only two home games since Jan. 14 and in this one, Smith reached yet another milestone by becoming the first Big Ten player with 1,000 points and 500 assists in conference games only.
Trey Kaufman-Renn added 12 points for the Boilermakers.
Nate Bittle had 23 points to lead the Ducks (8-15, 1-11), who took a 59-56 lead with 5:15 to go. Takai Simpkins added 14, but Oregon came up just short of snapping a losing streak that has now reached nine. The Ducks also have lost four straight road games and are just 1-9 since Jan. 2.
Purdue looked like it would roll when it scored five consecutive points to take an early 21-14 lead and then extended the margin to 36-28 late in the first half.
But Oregon closed out the half with eight straight points to tie the score at 36, setting up a back-and-forth second half that was decided in the final minute.
Loyer's 3 with 50.3 seconds left gave Purdue a 65-63 lead and after he made one of two free throws with 19.4 seconds to go, the Ducks still had a chance. But Wei Lin missed a potentially tying 3 from the outside the top of the key and Kwame Evans Jr. missed the second of two free throws after grabbing the rebound.
Loyer made the last two free throws to seal it.
Oregon: Visits Indiana on Monday.
Purdue: Visits No. 9 Nebraska on Tuesday.
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
Purdue guard Jack Benter (14) falls out of bounds chasing a loose ball in front of Oregon center Nate Bittle (32) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in West Lafayette, Ind., Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)
BANGKOK (AP) — Voters in Thailand went to the polls Sunday in an early general election seen as a three-way race among competing visions of progressive, populist and old-fashioned patronage politics.
The battle for support from 53 million registered voters comes against a backdrop of slow economic growth and heightened nationalist sentiment. While more than 50 parties are contesting the polls, only three — the People’s Party, Bhumjaithai, and Pheu Thai — have the nationwide organization and popularity to gain a winning mandate.
A simple majority of the 500 elected lawmakers selects the next prime minister.
Local polls consistently project that no single party will gain a majority, necessitating the formation of a coalition government.
Although the progressive People’s Party is seen as favored to win a plurality, its reformist politics aren't shared by its leading rivals, which may freeze it out by joining forces to form a government.
The People’s Party, led by Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut, is the successor to the Move Forward Party, which won the most seats in the House of Representatives in 2023, but was blocked from forming a government by conservative lawmakers and then forced to dissolve.
"I think we will get the mandate from the people, and we promised the people that we will form the people’s government to bring policies that benefit all, not a few in the country,” Natthaphong told reporters after casting his ballot in Bangkok soon after the polls opened at 8 a.m.
His party's platform continues to promise sweeping reforms of the military, police and judiciary, appealing to youth and urban voters. Legal constraints have led it to set aside demands for reform of a law that metes out harsh penalties for criticism of the monarchy, while putting new emphasis on economic issues.
Softening its politics risks weakening its core support, already at risk because the last election had positioned it squarely as the alternative to nine previous years of military-led government, a situation it can't fruitfully exploit this time.
At the same time, its positions critical of the military can be a political liability with the surge of patriotism that emerged during last year’s border clashes with Cambodia, said Napon Jatusripitak, director of the Center for Politics and Geopolitics at Thailand Future, a Bangkok-based think tank.
The Bhumjaithai Party, headed by incumbent Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, is seen as the main defender and preferred choice of the royalist-military establishment.
Anutin has been prime minister only since last September, after serving in the Cabinet of his immediate predecessor, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who was forced out of office for an ethics violation regarding mishandling relations with Cambodia. He dissolved parliament in December to call a new election after he was threatened with a no-confidence vote.
Subsequent border clashes with Cambodia allowed Anutin to recast himself as a wartime leader after his popularity initially slipped because of floods and financial scandals. His campaign focuses on national security and economic stimulus.
“We have done everything that we had to, but we cannot force the mind of the people. We can only present ourselves, and hope that the people will have faith in us,” Anutin said after casting ballots in northeastern Buriram province, his party's stronghold.
Bhumjaithai, seen as the likeliest party to form the next government, benefits from an electoral strategy employing old-style patronage politics and a machine skilled at grassroots organizing in the vote-rich northeast.
The Pheu Thai Party is the latest political vehicle for billionaire former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Thaksin-backed parties staged repeated electoral comebacks, only to be ousted by conservative-leaning courts and state watchdog agencies.
It softened its politics enough by the 2023 election to be returned to power after being judged by the previously hostile royalist-military establishment as an acceptable alternative to the more progressive Move Forward party.
The conservative court system rounded on it anyway — ousting two of its prime ministers over two years and ordering Thaksin imprisoned on old charges. The party now campaigns on economic revival and populist pledges like cash handouts, nominating Thaksin’s nephew, Yodchanan Wongsawat, as its lead candidate for prime minister.
"I’m excited, because I think today will be another busy day for the country’s democracy,” Yodchanan told reporters after voting.
Sunday’s voting includes a referendum asking voters whether Thailand should replace its 2017 military-drafted constitution.
The vote isn't on a proposed draft, but rather to decide whether to authorize parliament to begin a formal drafting process, which would require many further steps before coming to fruition.
Pro-democracy groups view a new charter as a critical step toward reducing the influence of unelected institutions such as the military and judiciary, while conservatives warn that it could cause instability.
CORRECTS DATE TO 8, NOT 7 - Police officers and volunteers seal a ballot box at voting station before starting of Thailand's general election in Bangkok, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
CORRECTS DATE TO 8, NOT 7 - Police officers prepare for the general election at a voting station in Bangkok, on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
CORRECTS DATE TO 8, NOT 7 - Police officers and election volunteers prepare for the general election at a voting station in Bangkok, on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
CORRECTS DATE TO 8, NOT 7 - A voter casts his ballot at a polling station during general election in Bangkok, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
CORRECTS DATE TO 8, NOT 7 - Voters look at candidates listed on a display board before entering a voting station for the general election in Bangkok, on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
Police officers and volunteers prepare at a voting station for the general election in Bangkok, Sunday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
Volunteers check equipment and prepare ballot boxes for Sunday's general election in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
A volunteer checks ballots for Sunday's general election in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Police officers and Volunteers check ballots for Sunday's general election in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
