WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. —  Freshman Avery Howell scored a season-high 18 points, JuJu Watkins added 16 points and seven rebounds and No. 4 USC nearly pitched a second-quarter shutout as it routed Purdue 79-37 on Wednesday.

The Trojans (18-1, 8-0 Big Ten) gave up just two points in the second quarter en route to their 14th consecutive win. Four conference victories have come by 20 or more points.

Kendall Puryear led Purdue (7-12, 0-8) with 10 points as the Boilermakers lost their seventh straight. Purdue has losses to each of the top four teams in The Associated Press Top 25.

Destini Lombard scored all eight of her points in the first four minutes as the Boilermakers jumped to a surprising 16-10 first-quarter lead, but the Trojans responded with a 31-0 run that didn’t end until Jordyn Poole beat the shot-clock buzzer with a mid-range jumper at the 1:57 mark in the second quarter.

USC led 46-18 at halftime, and Purdue never recovered.

Takeaways

USC: The Trojans swept through their frigid Midwestern swing with two double-digit wins and looked every bit the part of a top-five team.

Purdue: The Boilermakers dropped to 0-9 against ranked teams. Though they got off to a better start than they did two week’s ago against No. 1 UCLA, Purdue’s young team just is not built to stay close against the nation’s top teams and biggest stars.

Key moment

Purdue was scoreless for 8 minutes 2 seconds, committing eight turnovers during the span.

Key stat

The Trojans were 11 of 30 on three-pointers while Purdue was two of 15.

Up next

The Trojans get a well-deserved break before hosting No. 23 Minnesota on Jan. 30. Purdue hopes to snap its losing streak Monday at Illinois.