USC holds off California in thrilling upset


The USC men’s basketball team came into Wednesday night’s matchup with the surging California Golden Bears looking for some sort of spark to get themselves going and settled into conference play following a winless streak in its first five Pac-12 battles.

Rising up · Junior guard Byron Wesley finished with 14 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists for the Trojans last night. Wesley and freshman forward Nikola Jovanovic combined for 37 of the team’s 77 total points. - Jojo Korsh | Daily Trojan

Rising up · Junior guard Byron Wesley finished with 14 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists for the Trojans last night. Wesley and freshman forward Nikola Jovanovic combined for 37 of the team’s 77 total points. – Jojo Korsh | Daily Trojan

Coach Andy Enfield was blunt about his team’s outlook going into the Cal contest.

“We had to change something,” he said.

That spark finally came for USC (10-9, 1-5) on the defensive end, as the Trojans flustered Cal’s explosive offense from the opening tip-off. And the Trojans kept up that defensive pressure until the final buzzer to pick up their first conference win of the season against the Bears (14-5, 5-1) with a 77-69 victory.

Through the first five minutes coach Andy Enfield’s squad frustrated the Bears (14-5, 5-1) and their outstanding guard Justin Cobbs.

Arguably just as important as anything happening on the court, was a certain energy that permeated throughout the Galen Center.

Golden Bear basketball fans, eager to witness a Cal victory over the Trojans in a storied rivalry that spans all sports, made their voices heard in Los Angeles Wednesday night. Deafening “Go Bears” chants were thrust onto Trojan ears during USC free throws.  The Trojan faithful responded with one of their most spirited home efforts to date, setting the scene for an energized Pac-12 clash.

Whether it was the animated crowd, the challenge of playing a talented in-state conference rival, or simply being sick of losing, USC certainly came out strong in the early goings, leading by double digits midway through the first half.

“I thought when we defended we had a lot of energy and we made some shots early in the game to give us some confidence,” Enfield said.

A three-pointer from freshman guard Julian Jacobs put the Trojans up 26-16 with eight minutes left in the first. The Bears responded with a pair of free throws, but Enfield’s squad came right back with a dunk from senior center Omar Oraby.

Oraby had a strong first half, finishing with nine points after the first 20 minutes.

“Omar really helped us in the first half,” Enfield said. “He controlled the paint at times.”

USC went into the locker room up 41-32, and there was a buzz in the Galen Center that the Trojans were finally going to pick up their first conference win.

The competitive play continued early in the second half, but the Trojans were able to withstand a quick rally from the Bears and built the lead back up to 11.

Things got a little testy a couple minutes later, with a developing skirmish between Cobbs and Oraby. The mini-fight followed a questionable no-call on Cal after an aggressive elbow from a Bear found sophomore forward Strahinja Gavrilovic’s head.

The altercation seemed to be a turning point in the game, as the Trojans quickly built a 14-point lead behind the aggressive play of Oraby, and the phenomenal passing from the backcourt.

After Cal cut the lead to 10, senior guard J.T. Terrell, who’s struggled to find his shot all season, came out of a Cal timeout and promptly hit a three to put the Trojans back up by 13.

The Bears cut it to nine, prompting an Enfield timeout with 2:29 left. USC attempted to run a set play, but when that broke down it was senior guard Pe’Shon Howard who came through with the night’s heroics.

The Los Angeles native drove through the lane and found freshman forward Nikola Jovanovic for a game-clinching dunk with less than two minutes to play.

Jovanovic, for his part, finished with a game-high (and career-high) 23 points, easily his most impressive performance to date.

The freshman received a well-deserved standing ovation as he headed to the bench for the last time, and quite a bit of praise from his head coach.

“We’re 8-1 when Nikola scores double figures,” Enfield said. “Hopefully he understands that to beat a team like Cal you need players to have big games.”

Jovanovic certainly had a big game, but he was completely focused on the team after the win.

“It’s just team effort,” Jovanovic said. “When we did everything what coach said in the locker room, we played really well.”

The win was Enfield’s first Pac-12 victory of his young career at USC.

“This league is just a bear every night,” Enfield said. “We’re fortunate to win this game but we’ve got to come back and play another team on Sunday.”

USC will try to keep the momentum going on Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Galen Center against the 12-5 Stanford Cardinal.