SPOKANE, Wash. — Purdue played the us-against-the- world game to open the NCAA Tournament.
Us won.
“You got the president picking against you, so it’s a different thing,” Boilermakers senior Keaton Grant said of the national chorus — including Barack Obama — who expected 13th-seeded Siena to beat the Boilermakers because Robbie Hummel is out. “We were very aware and just used it as motivation.”
Grant ignited a decisive, 20-3 run with 11 points to begin the second half. That opened up the inside for teammate JaJuan Johnson’s 23 points and rallied the fourth-seeded Boilermakers past Siena 72-64 on Friday.
Johnson, the tallest player on either team at 6-feet-10, tied his career high with 15 rebounds and E’Twaun Moore added 12 points for the Boilermakers (28-5).
Edwin Ubiles scored 18 points for Siena (27-7), which came from 15 points down to pull within 66-63 on a layup by Ryan Rossiter with 62 seconds left.
Saints coach Fran McCaffery then chose to foul Lewis Jackson, who had airballed a shot and missed a free throw seconds earlier, but the sophomore playing with a foot fracture was 2-for-2 with 49 seconds left. The first, tension- breaking one plopped in after a thud onto the back rim.
“It was ugly. But, I mean, no matter how it drops, it drops,” Jackson said. “I’m just glad it went in.”
Chris Kramer added two foul shots to put Purdue up 70-63 with 33.9 seconds left and Johnson added two more with 28.6 seconds to go to make it 72-64. Only then could the Boilermakers exhale.
California 77, Louisville 62
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jerome Randle and Theo Robertson scored 21 points apiece, and the eighth-seeded Golden Bears (24-10) closed the game on a 15-4 run to advance.
Duke 73, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 44
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Kyle Singler had 22 points and 10 rebounds and No. 1-seeded Blue Devils (30-5) never trailed.
