CHICAGO (AP) — Oscar Clough had 17 points and 14 rebounds and No. 18 Purdue beat shorthanded UCLA 73-66 on Saturday to advance to the Big Ten tournament championship game.
Clough scored eight points and Purdue (26-8) outscored UCLA (23-11) 11-4 in the final 3 minutes and 41 seconds. Fletcher Loyer scored 14 points. Braden Smith added nine assists to bring his career assist count to 1,064. He needs 13 games to break Bobby Hurley’s NCAA record 1,076 games set for Duke from 1989-93.
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Trey Kaufman-Ren added 12 points and 10 rebounds to help Purdue advance to the conference finals for the first time since winning the tournament in Chicago in 2023. The Boilermakers will take on No. 3 Michigan. The Wolverines, seeking to defend their title, beat No. 23 Wisconsin 68-65 on Yaxel Lendeborg’s 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds left.
UCLA had to play the second half of Friday’s game against No. 8 Michigan State without star Tyler Bilodeau with a right leg injury. He scored 23 points and dished out 12 assists against the Spartans, but suffered a calf injury and scored just two points in 10 minutes.
Trent Perry scored 15 points for UCLA. Xavier Booker scored 12 points and Eric Daley Jr. had 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Trailing 58-48, UCLA went on a 12-2 run, tying the game at 60 on Perry’s jumper with 4:33 left. The score was tied at 62 when Purdue’s Oscar Clough tipped in, C.J. Cox drove for a layup and Clough tipped in with just over two minutes left.
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UCLA’s Skye Clark then hit a layup for four points. But Clough hit four free throws in the final 43 seconds, and the Boilermakers got some payback from a two-point loss at Pauley Pavilion in January.
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Last month, Purdue lost 91-80 at home to Michigan despite Trey Kaufman-Lane’s 27 points.
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