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Purdue Holds Off BC Rally

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The Associated Press

Published: November 27, 2008

NEW YORK - E'Twaun Moore scored 19 points and No. 10 Purdue withstood a late rally to beat Boston College 71-64 on Wednesday night in the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off.
JaJuan Johnson added 12 points, Keaton Grant had 11 and Robbie Hummel 10 for the Boilermakers (5-0), who led by 19 with about 6 1/2 minutes left before the Eagles started whittling the lead.
Boston College got to 64-56 on a pair of free throws by Tyrese Rice with 1:42 left, then forced Grant into a turnover at the other end. But sophomore forward Corey Raji was called for an offensive foul, and the Boilermakers held on from the free-throw line.

Rice finished with 17 points for Boston College (3-2). Joe Trapani added 14 points and Josh Southern had nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

The Boilermakers, who limited Coppin State to 22 first-half points in their previous game, held the Eagles to 1-for-11 shooting beyond the arc in the first half. But Boston College was just as gritty and proficient on the defensive end, and it took a 12-2 run by Purdue in the closing minutes to take a 34-30 lead into the break.
Boston College never did get back to even in the second half. Grant hit a 3-pointer and followed it with a 3-point play, Chris Kramer jammed one on a run-out and Hummel hit a baseline jumper as Purdue pushed the lead to 51-41 with about 13 minutes left.

NO. 6 TEXAS 70, OREGON 57

LAHAINA, Hawaii - Damion James had 21 points and 12 rebounds to lead No. 6 Texas to a 70-57 victory against Oregon in the third-place game of the EA Sports Maui Invitational.

The Longhorns (4-1) lost 81-80 to No. 8 Notre Dame in the semifinals, a game that ended with A.J. Abrams' shot from beyond half court bouncing off the front of the rim. The third-place finish matched their best in three appearances in the Maui Invitational.

Instead of having to play catch-up as they did in the loss to the Fighting Irish, Texas took command this time with a 21-1 run during which Oregon (3-3) couldn't make a shot from the field and barely connected from the free-throw line. The versatile James, who was 9-for-11 from the field, scored the last seven points of the run on two free throws, a shot from the lane and a 3-pointer.

The Ducks missed all five shots from the field, went 1-for-8 from the line and turned it over five times in the run that gave the Longhorns a 23-8 lead with 7:09 left in the half.

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