Men’s basketball tops Oregon in last-second thriller


USC completed its season sweep over the Oregon Ducks in a Thursday night thriller, winning by a final score of 72-70. Trailing early, the Trojans fought back to a 1-point deficit at halftime. The contest featured 12 ties and 15 lead changes.

Sophomore guard Jonah Mathews led the Men of Troy with 20 points in their match against the Oregon Ducks, while he is only averaging 9 points per game. Alex Zhang | Daily Trojan

Up 70-68 with 31 seconds to play, the Trojans (18-9, 9-5) had an opportunity to ice the victory with junior forward Chimezie Metu, who had been intentionally fouled at the line for two shots. Metu, a 75 percent free throw shooter in conference play, uncharacteristically missed both.

Seconds later, the Ducks tied the game. It felt eerily like another blown game for the Trojans. After all, USC has lost several one-possession games this season, including two in the last two weeks against UCLA and Arizona State.

Tonight, however, senior captain guard Jordan McLaughlin saved the win on USC’s last possession. Coming out of a timeout, McLaughlin dribbled across the court; then, off a ball screen he ran laterally from USC’s bench to the opposite sideline. Double-teamed and out of real estate, McLaughlin hooked a pass over his shoulder to Metu who stood wide open under the basket. Metu opted out of an alley-oop dunk and instead made a safer layup off the backboard.

“I wasn’t gonna mess around with [a dunk] this time,” Metu said.

Although head coach Andy Enfield did not exactly draw up a cross-court hook-pass for the final play of the game, he was happy with the result.

“The play call was to put the ball in our best player’s hands,” Enfield said. “[McLaughlin] is unbelievable. When he threw it up, I said, ‘That looks good to me.’”

For McLaughlin, the pass felt natural. “It felt good coming out of my hands,” he said.

The win felt relieving, too. After three consecutive losses, every game matters immensely for the Trojans in their postseason ambitions. With this win, they remain in second place in the conference.

However, the Trojans did not escape unscathed. With 7:57 to play in the second half, junior forward Bennie Boatwright, who is still nursing a foot injury, fell to the floor attempting to draw a charge. His left knee was banged badly, and he lay on the court for the team doctor to examine him until his teammates had to help carry him to the locker room.

The severity of the injury remains unclear. Boatwright will likely have to undergo an MRI to determine the status of his knee.

“[Boatwright] went out and played so hard,” Enfield said.

“He was playing the right way. He looked great. Hopefully, it’s just a sprain.”

Normally a leading scorer, Boatwright did not score tonight for 20 minutes. Nevertheless, he found other ways to contribute, including seven rebounds.

Sophomore guard Jonah Mathews led the team in scoring with 20 points while Metu added 18 points and 10 rebounds. McLaughlin also finished with a double-double — 11 points and 11 assists.

On Saturday night, the Trojans will host the Oregon State Beavers.

“We will need to play with the same energy,” Enfield said. “Good down the stretch on defense and offense.”

Oregon State is led by three double-digit scorers, including dynamic sophomore forward Tres Tinkles, who averages 18.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game. Although the Beavers rank 10th in the conference, they flew to Los Angeles on a two-game win streak.