SPOKANE, Wash. – Purdue outscored Siena, 27-9, to start the second half for a 56-41 lead, and the Saints couldn’t quite recover and lost, 72-64, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament today.
Siena got within 66-63 on a layup by Ryan Rossiter with just over a minute left.
Lewis Jackson made two free throws with 49.3 seconds left to give the Boilermakers a 68-63 lead.
JaJuan Johnson scored 23 points for the Boilermakers, and Edwin Ubiles scored 17 for the Saints.
Siena led at halftime, 32-29.
The Boilermakers made all four of their three-pointers during the early stages of the second half, including three by Keaton Grant.
Purdue started the second half on a 13-0 run to take a 42-32 lead.
Grant hit two threes during that stretch, then hit another to make it 45-35.
Alex Franklin had 10 points as Siena took a 32-29 halftime lead.
Franklin nearly had 12 points, missing an alley-oop dunk on an inbound pass from Ronald Moore at the buzzer.
Siena has outscored Purdue, 10-2, in a four-minute stretch, during which Franklin scored six points, to take a 20-17 lead.
Kyle Downey hit a three-pointer less than a minute left to make it 32-29.
The team stats were almost dead even, as Siena shot 13-for-34 (.382) and Purdue 12-for-31 (.387).
Siena had a 21-19 rebounding edge. Both teams had seven turnovers and were 4-for-6 from the free throw line.
E’Tuan Moore scored 10 points for the Boilermakers.
Clarence Jackson took the usual warmups, but Downey started in his place for Siena.
Jackson sprained his ankle during practice last Saturday.
