USC overcomes double-digit half-time deficit to stun No. 8 UCLA

USC battled back from a double-digit deficit and defeated crosstown rival UCLA in front of a roaring home crowd to cap off a defining 77-64 win Thursday night.

The Trojans’ first matchup against UCLA this season came down to the wire on Jan. 5, as the Bruins narrowly escaped the game with a 60-58 win.

In the second and final matchup of the season between the bitter rivals, the Trojans jumped out to an early 12-6 lead, but found themselves down 37-25 at halftime. 

USC and UCLA shot 41.7% and 41.4% respectively in the first-half, but UCLA had the edge at the three-point line, shooting 55% compared to just 31% for the Trojans. After the Bruins found themselves down by 6 early in the first half, UCLA closed the half on a 17-6 run.

“Your best players have to step up in games like this,” said Head Coach Andy Enfield in a postgame interview. “We were getting pretty clean looks, but we weren’t playing with aggressiveness on offense.”

Similar to the first meeting between the two teams, the Trojans turned it around on both sides of the ball in the second half as senior guard Boogie Ellis led the way.

Ellis finished the game with a team high 31 points — the most he has scored in his collegiate career. Of the 31 points Ellis poured in for USC, 27 came in the second half on 7-10 shooting after a first half in which he shot just 2-7 from the field and 0-5 from three. 

Along with Ellis, fifth-year guard Drew Peterson scored 16 points on 6-10 shooting and made 3 out of his 4 3-point attempts.

“Me and Drew told the guys that we have been in this position before,” Ellis said. “Me and Drew have played in big games and big atmospheres, so it is really our job to calm the team down.”

The scoring efforts from USC’s two senior captains contributed to a second half in which USC outscored UCLA 52-27. 

“We were giving up too many threes early on,” Peterson said. “A big thing for us was rebounding in that second half and I think we limited them on the boards.”

In USC’s win over UCLA at Galen Center last year, the Trojans escaped with a narrow victory, but Ellis was held to zero points in the game. Ellis explained after Thursday night’s victory that he finds basketball unique because anybody can rise to the occasion on any given night.

“This game has highs and lows and tonight was a high,” Ellis said. “I worked hard for these moments and I definitely beat myself up for that performance, but Drew had it rolling [last season], that was his night. Tonight was my night.”

Defensively, the Trojans were able to hold senior UCLA guard Jaime Jaquez Jr. under his season average of 16.1 points per game, limiting him to 15 points on the night.

In the second half, the play that allowed the Trojans to regain the lead came with 12:18 left to play, off a turnover by senior UCLA guard Tyger Campbell in which Ellis stole the ball and found sophomore guard Reese Dixon-Waters for a transition layup.

Campbell was also a player USC was able to limit in the second half as he was held to just 4 points after a 10-point performance in the first half.

“We tried to put pressure on the guards so Campbell couldn’t get in the lane,” Enfield said. “Our centers Josh [Morgan] and Vince [Iwuchukwu] did a really good job of getting out on the ball screens and then getting back before they could reverse the ball or throw it in to their bigs at the rim.”

USC also won the turnover battle with just 9 turnovers committed to UCLA’s 13. In the previous matchup against the Bruins, USC turned the ball over 10 times compared to 8 turnovers for UCLA.

The Trojans’ win over UCLA marks only the second time this season the Bruins have lost two games in a row. USC now sits at 15-6 on the season, and 7-3 in the Pac-12. With only two wins separating first and sixth place, the conference is now wide open.

USC will next hit the court in a week, when they host Washington State at home next Thursday at 8 p.m.