Boogie Ellis scored 27 of his career-high 31 points in the second half, including a 3-point dagger with 1:25 remaining, and Southern California handed visiting crosstown rival and No. 8-ranked UCLA its second consecutive loss in a 77-64 decision, Thursday night in Los Angeles.
The Trojans (15-6, 7-3 Pac-12 Conference) trailed by 12 points at halftime but opened the second half on a 15-4 run to pull within a point less than six minutes into the second half.
USC extended its run to 25-6 over the first 10:12 after intermission, taking a lead it never relinquished down the stretch.
Ellis was electric in the second half, going 7-for-10 from the floor hitting all 10 of his free throws to power USC’s comeback on the offensive end. His deep 3-pointer with less than a minute-and-a-half remaining snuffed any hope of a UCLA comeback, pushing the Trojans lead to nine points.
A parade of foul shots down the stretch extended the gap in the final minute.
In addition to his career scoring high, Ellis dished a team-high six assists. Kobe Johnson, who finished with 10 points, dished out another five assists.
Johnson also made three steals, part of the 13 turnovers the Bruins committed. They came into Thursday’s matchup averaging just 10 turnovers per game.
UCLA (17-4, 8-2) suffered its second straight loss after winning its previous 14 games. The Bruins’ lead in the conference standings slipped to one game in the loss column over a host of three-loss teams, including USC.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. led UCLA with 15 points and eight rebounds. Tyger Campbell and David Singleton both scored 14 points, while Campbell passed out a game-high eight assists. Amari Bailey added 11 points off the bench.
Drew Peterson scored 16 points for USC, which scored its first win over a top 10-ranked opponent since January 2017 — against UCLA.
–Field Level Media
