No. 7 Purdue's dominance in paint overwhelms USC

Field Level Media|published: Fri 7th February, 21:47 2025

Feb 7, 2025; West Lafayette, Indiana, USA; Purdue Boilermakers forward Caleb Furst (1) looks for a teammate around USC Trojans guard Bryce Pope (4) during the first half at Mackey Arena. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

Trey Kaufman-Renn scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, Braden Smith dished 13 assists and No. 7 Purdue nearly led wire-to-wire in a 90-72 rout of visiting Southern California on Friday in West Lafayette, Ind.

The Big Ten Conference-leading Boilermakers (19-5, 11-2 Big Ten) overwhelmed the Trojans in the interior, establishing dominance of the lane early to take a double-digit-point lead less than seven minutes into the contest.

Purdue pulled ahead 21-10, with 18 of its points coming from inside. The Boilermakers outscored USC in the paint for the night 52-36 and nearly notched as many points in the key by halftime with 32 as the Trojans had in total with 36.

Kaufman-Renn set the tone, shooting 7 of 9 from the floor in the first half for 14 points. He finished 8 of 12. Combining with Caleb Furst, who grabbed another 10 rebounds, Kaufman-Renn helped Purdue post a 48-31 advantage on the glass.

The Boilers capitalized on poor shooting from USC, which went 4 of 26 from 3-point range. Clark Slajchert, who went for a season-high 24 points on Tuesday at Northwestern, shot 0 for 6 from 3-point range on Friday and 2 of 10 from the floor overall en route to seven points.

USC (13-10, 5-7) was without Desmond Claude for the second time in as many games after its leading scorer sustained a knee injury in the Trojans' Feb. 1 win over then-No. 7 Michigan State.

Wesley Yates III picked up the scoring slack with a career-high 30 points. Isaiah Elohim added 11 and Jalen Shelley finished with 10 and a team-high six rebounds in the loss, which dropped USC to 0-2 on its Midwestern road swing after a defeat in the closing seconds at Northwestern.

Purdue, meanwhile, picked up its fourth consecutive victory and 11th in the last 12 games to maintain its pace in the Big Ten. Eight Boilermakers scored at least seven points, including Fletcher Loyer with 14.

Smith, who finished with nine points, had his highest assist total since distributing 14 vs. Nebraska on Jan. 12.

-Field Level Media

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