UCLA
8-8, 1-2
USC
13-3, 2-1
UCLA Falls to USC, 74-63
January 11, 2020 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES – Junior Chris Smith registered 16 points and 10 rebounds as the UCLA men's basketball team lost to USC, 74-63, on Saturday evening in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom.
Sophomore Jalen Hill finished with 14 points off the bench for the Bruins (8-8, 1-2 Pac-12), making 4 of 5 shots before a sellout crowd of 13,659 at UCLA.
Prince Ali rounded out UCLA's list of double-figure scorers with 10 points.
USC's Nick Rakocevic had game highs of 17 points and 14 rebounds for USC (13-3, 2-1 Pac-12). Jonah Mathews added 16 points, including 14 during a second half in which the Trojans converted 16 of 23 shots from the field (69.6 percent).
The Bruins were outrebounded for the first time this season, as USC held a 35-31 advantage on the boards.
"Obviously, our defense in the second half was about as bad as it can get," said Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men's Head Basketball Coach. "They hit a couple backbreaking threes at the end of the shot clock where we actually did play decent defense for seven seconds. Couple one-on-one threes where we actually did play decent defense. Those broke our back, I thought. Give them credit. I thought their toughness, their offensive toughness with the basketball against our pressure was the key to the game."
The lead changed hands six times and neither team held an advantage of greater than five points during the first half. UCLA was a force on the offensive glass during the game's opening 20 minutes, scoring 11 second-chance points. USC got to the free throw line early and often in the first half, making 9 of 12 attempts.
Ethan Anderson of the Trojans scored 12 of his 14 points in the first half to lead all players, while Smith nearly matched him with 11 of his own. USC led UCLA by a 33-31 margin at halftime.
The Trojans made eight of their first nine field-goal attempts in the second half and used a 7-0 scoring run to increase its lead to a game-high 14 points, at 58-44, with 9:03 to go.
UCLA responded with a 13-5 run to cut the deficit to six points with 4:05 remaining. Consecutive three-pointers by Daniel Utomi, who finished with 13 points for USC, and Mathews helped the Trojans hold off UCLA's late run.
The Trojans shot 27 for 47 (57.4 percent) for the game, including 7 of 14 from 3-point distance. The Bruins converted 22 of 58 shots from the field (38 percent) and made 16 of 22 free throws, including 13 of 18 in the second half.
The Bruins will return to action at home against Stanford on Wednesday, Jan. 15. Game time in Pauley Pavilion is 7 p.m. (PT). The Bruins' game will be televised on Pac-12 Network.
UCLA will conclude its three-game homestand with a contest against California on Sunday, Jan. 19.
