Drew Peterson leads in victory over UCLA

The ground in Galen Center was shaking long before the tip off against No. 12 UCLA. USC fans were unbothered by the absence of junior forward Isaiah Mobley, who was out of the game for concussion protocols, as the Trojans rolled to a 67-64 victory Saturday night.

No. 21 USC has now won five consecutive meetings against the Bruins, its longest streak since 1942-43. Saturday also marked the first meeting the Trojans and UCLA were both ranked in the AP Top 25 since 2007. 

USC’s offense came out explosive in the first half, hitting 5 threes, 3 of which came from senior guard Drew Peterson. The fans were just as explosive, creating an energy in Galen Center that could only be rivaled with a packed Coliseum. 

“This was as good of an atmosphere as I’ve ever been in,” said Head Coach Andy Enfield in a postgame press conference. “I’ve been coaching for a long time, 27 years, and this was as good of an atmosphere as I can remember for a home crowd, especially our home crowd.” 

Peterson continued to lead the charge for the Trojans throughout the night and finished with 27 points, 12 rebounds and 5 blocks. This marks a career high in points and the senior’s first ever double-double, coming in a pivotal match against a cross-town rival.

“My teammates kept telling me to shoot,” Peterson said. “Thankfully, I was knocking them down tonight and I was feeling really confident. That’s something I’ve had to work through, but obviously, I got my confidence back and a little bit of swagger, so I’m happy. It was awesome, it was a great win.”

With Mobley absent, Peterson stepped up as a leader of the team. His absence also gave the opportunity for younger players to shine. 

Freshman guard Reese Dixon-Waters played 24 minutes and provided a pivotal steal from Bruins guard Tyger Campbell, which put USC up 67-62 with five seconds left. He also had 10 points.

“As soon as I saw [Campbell] turn his body, I knew it was about to be a turnover,” Dixon-Waters said. 

While Campbell was the leading scorer for UCLA with 27 points, the rest of the team’s normally pertinent offense was shut down by the Trojans’ stifling defense. Standout junior guard Johnny Juzang was held to 12 points on 4-16 shooting. 

Juzang had consecutive 20 point games going into Saturday and is projected to be drafted mid to late first round in the NBA draft.  However, he has yet to score 20 points in two meetings against USC across his two seasons with UCLA. 

“Johnny is an elite offensive player,” Enfield said. “We just said, ‘Hey, we have to challenge everything he takes and make it hard for him.’ Our players did a really good job with that. He’s a special offensive player, so anytime you hold a guy to 4-16, I think we did a good job.” 

Despite being up 5 points, two free throws from Juzang brought the game within reach for the Bruins with two seconds remaining. 

Senior forward Chevez Goodwin was inbounding the ball, and a misthrow led to a last second shot attempt by UCLA to tie the game. The crowd at Galen was silent while the shot was in the air but erupted when it just glanced off the rim. 

“I will say, I’m never letting Chevez inbound a ball at the end of a game again,” Enfield said. “He’s from South Carolina, and he said he was a football player. Well, he was about 30 yards off on that one. Luckily the shot didn’t go in, but one play doesn’t decide a game, and our players played with grit the whole game.” 

In a key Pac-12 battle and with March coming around, Peterson stressed the importance of this game for the Trojans. 

“It’s awesome to be able to put this on our resume,” Peterson said. “Especially when this is the biggest game we’ve shown for, obviously all of the fan support and the cross-town rivalry. We really had to prove to ourselves.” 

USC will next play Washington at home Thursday. Tip off is at 8:30 p.m.