NCAA tournament: Purdue rallies past Siena, 72-64

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Keaton Grant ignited the decisive run that rallied fourth-seeded Purdue past No. 13-seeded Siena, 72-64, on Friday in the first round of NCAA tournament’s South Regional at Spokane, Wash.

Grant’s 11 points to begin the second half opened up the inside for teammate JuJuan Johnson’s 23 points. Johnson, the tallest player on either team at 6-foot-10, also tied a career high with 15 rebounds.

E’Twaun Moore added 12 points for the Boilermakers (28-5). They were steamed that even President Obama had joined a national chorus predicting the Saints (27-7) would pull a first-round upset in their third consecutive NCAA tournament.

Grant, a senior, became a starter after do-it-all Purdue’s Robbie Hummel blew out his knee three weeks ago.

-- Associated Press

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