Overview
- Braden Smith scored a game-high 22 and sealed No. 5 Purdue’s 69-64 win with a steal-and-layup with 23 seconds left at the Galen Center.
- Center Oscar Cluff added 19 points and six rebounds as Purdue overcame an early 14-point deficit and earned its ninth straight victory.
- The result moved Purdue to 17-1 overall and 7-0 in the Big Ten, tying Nebraska for first place, in a game backed by a large, black-and-gold crowd during Purdue’s first Los Angeles visit in decades.
- USC shot 5-for-14 at the free-throw line; Chad Baker-Mazara came off the bench with a neck issue to lead the Trojans with 15 points, and Jacob Cofie posted 13 points and 15 rebounds.
- A day later, USC’s women beat Purdue 83-57 to snap a four-game slide, led by Kara Dunn’s 29 points as Kennedy Smith returned from a lower leg injury.