National Basketball Association
Southern California 84, Utah 67
When: 8:00 PM ET, Sunday, January 14, 2018
Where: Galen Center, Los Angeles, California
Officials:
# David Hall, # Chris Rastatter, # Deron White
Attendance:
4822
By Field Level Media
Sophomore guard Jonah Mathews scored 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting and Southern California connected on a season-high 14 3-pointers while rolling to an easy 84-67 victory over Utah on Sunday night in Pac-12 play at the Galen Center in Los Angeles.
Junior forward Bennie Boatwright added 13 points and senior guard Jordan McLaughlin contributed 14 points and seven assists as the Trojans (13-6, 4-2 Pac-12) finished 14-of-29 from long range to win for the seventh time in the past nine contests. USC built a 24-point halftime lead en route to snapping an eight-game series losing streak against the Utes.
Senior guard Justin Bibbins made five 3-pointers while scoring 19 points for Utah (10-7, 2-4), which committed 17 turnovers and dropped its fourth consecutive game. Sophomore 7-footer Jayce Johnson matched his career high of 14 points and also collected nine rebounds. Senior forward David Collette added 11 points and freshman forward Donnie Tillman scored 10.
The Trojans -- who also received 11 points from junior forward Chimezie Metu -- controlled the final 38 minutes while defeating the Utes for the first time since Jan. 12, 2013.
Utah opened the game with 3-pointers from Tillman and senior forward Tyler Rawson before USC took over. Junior guard Shaqquan Aaron drained two 3-pointers as the Trojans ran off the next 10 points to start a 24-3 burst.
Senior guard Elijah Stewart had two 3-pointers and freshman wing Jordan Usher capped the spree with one of his own to give USC a 24-9 edge with 11:11 left in the half. A 3-pointer by Mathews pushed the lead above 20 for the first time at 32-11 with 9:20 left.
McLaughlin drained a 3-pointer to make it 41-17 with 3:38 left in the half. He later converted a layup to push the margin to 26 before the Trojans settled for a 46-22 halftime advantage.
USC was 9-of-15 from 3-point range in the half, compared to 3-of-13 for the Utes. Utah ended up 10-of-24.
Bibbins nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to pull the Utes within 66-45 with 9:55 to play before McLaughlin made USC's 14th 3-pointer -- representing the new season high -- just 31 seconds later.
Utah crept within 14 on a jumper by Johnson with 4:21 left before the Trojans bumped the lead back up to 19 while cruising to the finish.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| Utah |
|
Southern California |
|
Justin Bibbins 19 |
Scoring |
Jonah Mathews 17 |
|
Justin Bibbins 4 |
Assists |
Jordan McLaughlin 7 |
|
Jayce Johnson 9 |
Rebounds |
Bennie Boatwright 8 |
|
Jayce Johnson 4 |
Free Throws Made |
Jordan McLaughlin 4 |
|
Justin Bibbins 1 |
Steals |
Shaqquan Aaron 1 |
|
David Collette 1 |
Blocks |
Shaqquan Aaron 1 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Utah
|
67 |
46.9 |
10-24 |
11-19 |
16 |
32 |
3 |
2 |
17 |
| Southern California
|
84 |
43.3 |
14-29 |
12-18 |
19 |
34 |
3 |
5 |
7 |
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