Purdue Defeats Trojans, 68-64

Forward Melvin McCants scored a game-high 26 points to lead Purdue past USC 68-64, in the first round of the 25th annual Rainbow tournament Tuesday night.

Ryan Berning came off the bench and contributed a career- high 13 points for the Boilermakers.

Purdue improved its record to 7-4. USC dropped to 6-4.

With less than 2 minutes to play, the Trojans scored 9 unanswered points, capped by Anthony Pendleton’s 3-point shot with a second left in the game.

The Boilermakers had a 29-28 lead at intermission on the strength of McCants’ 6-for-8 shooting from the field and 12 points.

At the start of the second half, forward Ronnie Coleman, who led the Trojans with 15 points, sparked a 9-4 USC spurt with 7 consecutive points giving USC a 37-33 lead.

But the Boilermakers outscored the Trojans, 23-9, in the next 10 minutes to take a 56-46 lead.

The Trojans face the loser of the Hawaii-Yale game in a consolation bracket game Thursday afternoon.