UCLA
20-10, 11-7
USC
21-10, 12-6
Holiday, Wilkes Lead UCLA Past USC, 83-72
March 03, 2018 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES โ Aaron Holiday scored a career-high 34 points and Kris Wilkes added a career-best 22 points as UCLA defeated USC, 83-72, at the Galen Center on Saturday night.
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UCLA (20-10, 11-7) secured the No. 4 seed in next week's conference tournament. With the win on Saturday, the Bruins swept the regular-season series against USC (21-10, 12-6) before a crowd of 10,258 in the regular-season finale for both teams.ย
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The Bruins earned a first-round bye in the Pac-12 Tournament and will face either Stanford or California in the quarterfinals on Thursday afternoon (2:30 p.m., PT).
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Holiday was electric for the Bruins on Saturday evening, hitting 11 of 16 shots while draining a career-high six three-pointers (on nine attempts). He also registered seven assists, five rebounds and one blocked shot. Holiday scored 20 of his career-best 34 points in the second half.
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Holiday and Wilkes were the only two Bruins to score in double figures. Thomas Welsh finished with seven points and nine rebounds, while G.G. Goloman registered five points and a career-best nine boards.
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UCLA trailed throughout the first half and entered the locker room at halftime trailing USC by a 43-40 margin.
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In the second half, UCLA trailed by as many as eight points โ 56-48 โ with 15:04 to play and then by six points โ 60-54 โ with 12:04 remaining. A jump shot from Holiday and a dunk from Chris Smith cut the Trojans' advantage to 60-58 before Holiday cut to the basket for a layup at the 9:06 mark, tying the contest.
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After a free throw shot by USC's Derryck Thornton, UCLA used a 7-0 scoring run to secure a 67-61 cushion and never looked back. From that point, the Bruins' cushion never fell to any fewer than four points.
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A three-pointer by Holiday with 3:33 to play pushed the Bruins' lead up to seven points (77-70). After a missed jump shot by USC's Elijah Stewart, Holiday had the answer for UCLA with a layup at the 2:56 mark.
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UCLA earned its first win at USC's Galen Center since 2015 and improved its record in the Trojans' home arena to 8-4 (since the building opened prior to the 2006-07 season).
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USC's Jordan McLaughlin scored a team-leading 19 points and had four assists, while Chimezie Metu finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks.
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The Pac-12 Tournament will begin with four first-round games on Wednesday, March 7. For the second consecutive season, the Pac-12 Tournament will take place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
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The complete Pac-12 Tournament bracket is available online by clicking here.
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Game Notes: UCLA freshman Jaylen Hands did not play on Saturday night due to a sprained right ankle, sustained in practice on Thursday ... Hands is currently day-to-day ... senior Alec Wulff played a career-high six minutes in the first half, connecting on a three-pointer with 7:05 to play before halftime that reduced USC's lead to 30-26 ... senior Thomas Welsh totaled nine rebounds, moving into a tie for fifth place on UCLA's all-time rebounds list (992, tied with Don MacLean) ... Aaron Holiday will enter the upcoming Pac-12 Tournament as the league's leading scorer, at 20.1 points per game ... no UCLA player has averaged at least 20 points per game during a full season since Ed O'Bannon as a senior in 1994-95 (20.4 ppg).
