UCLA
10-8, 3-2
USC
10-8, 3-2
UCLA Men's Basketball Falls at USC 80-67
January 19, 2019 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES – Prince Ali and Jaylen Hands each scored 15 points as UCLA dropped an 80-67 decision to USC at the Galen Center in a Pac-12 contest on Saturday afternoon.
Kris Wilkes finished with 13 points and nine rebounds for UCLA (10-8, 3-2 Pac-12) in the loss.
USC received a game-leading 21 points each from Nick Rakocevic and Bennie Boatwright. The Trojans (10-8, 3-2) led UCLA at halftime, 36-33, before using a 25-4 scoring run midway through the second half to take control of the game.
The Bruins closed their deficit to 13 points in the game's final two minutes, finishing the contest on a 12-0 scoring run.
USC held the Bruins to 40.8 percent shooting from the field, as UCLA made just 5 of 22 attempts from 3-point territory.
Boatwright nailed 5 of 9 attempts from 3-point distance, while Jonah Mathews (16 points) was 4-for-10 from long-range.
"We turned the ball over too much," UCLA interim head coach Murry Bartow said. "When you go on the road, you have to play close to perfect and we didn't. They have three really, really good players in Rakocevic, Boatwright and Mathews. They all played great. All three of them played great games."
USC claimed a 16-4 cushion against UCLA just five minutes into the game, before the Bruins answered by trimming their deficit to 18-14 on a layup by Ali with 11:30 left in the opening half.
A 3-point field goal by Wilkes with 7:18 to play gave the Bruins a 23-22 advantage. USC built its margin back to six points (29-23) and seven points (36-29) with 1:34 to go, before UCLA had reduced the Trojans' advantage to three by halftime.
In the second half, Boatwright helped ignite the Trojans' 25-4 scoring run. With the game tied at 38-38, he nailed a 3-pointer with 18:26 to play before following that with another three ball with 17:45 to play.
Saturday's loss dropped UCLA's overall record against USC at the Galen Center to 8-5 since the arena opened prior to the 2006-07 season.
The Bruins will return to action at home this week, hosting Arizona State on Thursday, Jan. 24. Game time is 8 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. The Bruins' game will be televised FS1.
