UCLA
19-12, 12-6
USC
22-9, 11-7
UCLA Men's Basketball Edged at USC, 54-52
March 07, 2020 | Men's Basketball
LOS ANGELES โ The UCLA men's basketball team lost at USC, 54-52, on a last-second 3-point shot by Trojans' senior Jonah Mathews in the regular-season finale for both teams on Saturday afternoon at the Galen Center.
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UCLA (19-12, 12-6 Pac-12) had claimed a 52-51 cushion on a pair of free throws made by Cody Riley with nine seconds to play. Mathews' game-winning 3-pointer took place with just one second to play on the clock.
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Riley finished with a team-leading 13 points for the Bruins, while Chris Smith totaled 12 points.
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Mathews finished with a team-best 19 points for USC (22-9, 11-7). Onyeka Okongwu also scored in double figures for the Trojans, totaling 16 points and six rebounds.
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"Credit to USC's defense, but we refused to give up," said Mick Cronin, The Michael Price Family UCLA Men's Head Basketball Coach. "So, we've implemented that in our program, the competitive spirit. And we almost found a way to steal a game when you're about as bad as you can be on offense, for a long portion of the game."
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USC led at halftime, 24-22, and pushed its margin to as many as five points with 5:48 to play. UCLA trailed the Trojans, 45-40, before Jaime Jaquez Jr. made a pair of free throws with 5:22 remaining.
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After USC's Isaiah Mobley made one of two free throws, giving the Trojans a 46-42 advantage, UCLA's Jake Kyman nailed a 3-pointer to trim USC's lead to one point (46-45).
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UCLA kept the margin within four points before a short jump shot by Chris Smith at the 1:15 mark pulled the Bruins to within 51-50.
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Both teams committed turnovers on their ensuing offensive possessions, and the Bruins got the ball back with under 25 seconds to go, trailing 51-50. Riley corralled an offensive rebound and was fouled, hitting both free throws with nine seconds to play.
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Mathews' game-winning shot with just a second left in regulation allowed USC to sweep the two-game regular-season series against UCLA.
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The Bruins will return to action in a quarterfinal matchup of the Pac-12 Tournament on Thursday, March 12 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
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UCLA will face either No. 7-seed Stanford (20-11) or No. 10-seed California (13-18). Stanford and California will play on Wednesday, March 11, in a first-round matchup at 6 p.m.
