BOX SCORE
HONOLULU -- Martelle McLemore scored a game-high 21 points, but Western Michigan couldn't hang on to a second-half lead and fell to USC, 55-51, in the second game of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic. The Broncos (4-5) will play Northeastern (2-6) at 3 p.m. ET tomorrow on ESPNU.
The Trojans' (6-4) Mike Gerrity hit a driving lay-up and made the subsequent free throw with 1:28 remaining to break a 50-all tie after McLemore drove the lane and converted an old-fashionined three-point play to tie the game with 1:50 to play.
The Broncos had a chance to tie with eight seconds remaining, but Kool's three-pointer rimmed out.
Kool added 11 points and five assists for the Broncos, while McLemore added six rebounds to his total. Freshman Nate Hutcheson came off the bench to hit all three of his triples to score nine points.
The Trojans scored the first two points of the game on a steal and dunk by Marcus Johnson. WMU came back with eight points in a row on back-to-back McLemore triples and a jumper by Flenard Whitfield with 14:02 to play. The Broncos continued to hold the lead and increased it to seven, 15-8, with 7:15 to play after Kool made a jumper. USC responded and pulled within two points, 15-13, with 5:56 to go.
The Broncos came right back with a 12-1 run to build a 13-point advantage, 27-14, with 1:40 to go in the half after Hutcheson hit a three-ball. The Broncos didn't score again and USC posted the last four points of the half to go into the locker room down nine, 27-18.
WMU held USC to only five field goals and 22.7 percent shooting in the first half. The Broncos hit 40 percent of their shots, including three three-pointers.
The Trojans scored on back-to-back fast breaks to pull within five, 27-22, to open the second half before Whitfield made a jumper. USC kept up the pressure and closed within three, 31-28, with 14:22 to go in the game. The Broncos responded with two Hutcheson threes to go back up by eight, 37-29, with 12:10 to go.
The Broncos were still up nine, 42-33, after McLemore drove the lane to hit a lay-up for a three-point play with 9:21 remaining. The Trojans didn't waste any time making a run by rattling off 11 points in a row to take their first lead, 44-42, since 2-0. McLemore hit a jumper on the next possession to tie the score and then put WMU in front with a triple, 47-46, with 5:41 to go.
The Broncos made one stop, but couldn't convert on the other end. USC came back down and got a lay-up by Johnson and dunk by Nikola Vucevic to go up three, 50-47, with 3:23 to go. The game remained scoreless until McLemore tied the game with 1:50 to play.
The Trojans made their comeback by forcing 10 second half turnovers and out-scoring the Broncos, 15-0, in points off turnovers.
WMU won the rebounding battle, 34-31, against the bigger Trojans, but allowed 53.6 percent second-half shooting. The Broncos hit 7-of-9 free throws, while USC made 13-of-21 freebies.
Gerrity led USC with 17 points, while Johnson, Vucevic and Dwight Smith all had 10 points.
