In a heartbreaker at Galen Center, the USC Trojans fell to the No. 5 Purdue Boilermakers 69-64.
The atmosphere was electric from tip-off, the most energy the building has seen all season. The Trojans fed off the home crowd and jumped out aggressively, sprinting to a 6-2 lead early, but Purdue answered with back-to-back 3-pointers.
The Trojans responded with fire, igniting a game-changing 16-0 run highlighted by a monster alley-oop from junior guard Jordan Marsh to junior center Gabe Dynes. The run also included senior forward Jaden Brownell splashing a 3-pointer right out of a timeout and graduate forward Chad Baker-Mazara slamming home an uncontested fast-break dunk to make it 22-8. Purdue went ice cold, missing 13 straight shots over seven minutes.
Purdue refused to fold, clawing back with a 12-2 spurt that woke their traveling fans. Down by as many as 14, the Boilermakers fought back to tie it at 30 late in the half, then took the lead, 33-32, with 2:25 left. Senior guard Braden Smith exploded for 18 first-half points, going 4-for-4 from deep to lead all scorers. The Boilermakers closed the half on a 30-10 run, heading into the locker room with momentum.
The second half delivered pure intensity on both ends. Baker-Mazara’s miraculous alley-oop layup sparked a 7-0 USC burst to reclaim the lead at 43-32. Purdue went over five minutes without a single point.
Sophomore forward Jacob Cofie delivered a huge and-one off an offensive rebound, followed by a slam from senior forward Ezra Ausar to regain the lead at 58-57 with 4:48 left.
The game stayed razor-tight. Purdue took a 62-60 edge at 1:47, and with the game in the balance, Baker-Mazara’s contested step-back 3-pointer fell short with 1:19 left. Down the stretch, Marsh was fouled but missed both free throws under crowd pressure, a theme of the game for the Trojans. Smith iced it for the Boilermakers with two free throws.
The Trojans struggled with their shooting ending 5-14 from the free-throw line and 3-20 from three.
At the post game press conference, head coach Eric Musselman was asked how the locker room was doing. He said, “I hope they’re working on their free throws.”
Despite the loss, the Trojans outrebounded Purdue and held the nation’s fifth-ranked team to 41% shooting, thanks to a stifling defensive scheme, leading for 21 minutes despite injuries to four key players.
“In the first half, we played unselfishly and got mismatches that we won,” Musselman said. “We battled our butts off and had a chance to beat the number five team in the country with a really limited roster. The fight, the toughness, it was there.”
One player who showed physicality all night long was Cofie. He put up 13 points and 11 rebounds, while shutting down Purdue’s star forward, senior Trey Kaufman-Renn.
“We have to go back to the drawing board and figure this out,” Cofie said. “We can’t have constant turnovers like that. I feel like we can beat anyone if we play our game. We have a lot of talent on our team despite injuries, and I feel like we can beat good teams.”
Although this loss will sting, USC showed it can hang with the Big Ten’s elite. Now they must leave this one behind them and prepare for the final game of their homestand against Northwestern on Wednesday.