USC upsets UCLA 62-56 in crosstown battle

USC Trojans #0 Boogie Ellis (G) bringing the basketball upcourt. Photo by TGSportstv1.

WESTWOOD, CA – It was a tale of two halves as the USC Trojans (11-16) came into Pauley Pavilion and beat a red-hot UCLA Bruins (14-13) team that had won six of their last seven games, 62-56.

Boogie Ellis led the Trojans with 24 points, including several timely three-point shots to stall UCLA comebacks. The Bruins had four players score in double digits, led by Adem Bona with 14 points, who was perfect shooting from both the floor and the charity stripe.

The game started slow, with only two baskets in the first nearly four minutes of play before Bruin freshman Berke Buyuktuncel knocked down a deep 23-foot three-pointer to give the Bruins a 5-4 lead.

The Turkish forward showed his two-way talent as Buyuktencel blocked the Trojan Isaiah Collier's shot moments later, leading to a timeout. Coming out of the time out, Trojan coach Andy Enfield designed a play that freed up Ellis, who drained a deep 25-foot three-point as USC reclaimed the lead 7-5. Ellis had the first seven points for USC to start the game.

Less than a week removed from the NBA's Three-Point Shooting contest, the Trojans continued channeling that NBA range with DJ Rodman nailing a long 23-footer on their next possession for the 10-7 lead with 14 minutes remaining in the first half.

After the Bruins had trimmed the lead to one, Collier dished a crisp assist to Ellis, who drained a 25-footer from beyond NBA range, which ignited a 14-2 run by USC. That run culminated with Bronny James hitting a midrange jumper in the lane to give USC a 27-14 lead with eight minutes remaining in the first half.

Collier was assisting on long-range bombs indiscriminately, finding Kobe Johnson, who drained a 24-foot basket, giving the Trojans their largest lead of the night, 33-19, with 5:40 remaining in the opening half. At that point, the Trojans had made seven from three-point-land and finished half-shooting 58% from long range.

UCLA dug in those remaining five minutes, led by Bona inside, Lazar Stefanovic from the deep and electric energy of the Pauley Pavilion crowd that fueled the Bruins as they outscored USC 15-1 to close out the half as Sebastian Mack put back a miss inside to tie the game 34-34 going into halftime. The Bruins regained their composure and played with a rejuvenated defense, swarming the Trojans in the final minutes.

"We played hard for five minutes at the end of the first half," said UCLA coach Mick Cronin.

Ellis was the only player to score more than six points in the first half for USC, pacing his squad with 18 points. Stefanovic and Bona both had ten a piece for UCLA.

With Ellis outscoring all of his other teammates combined in the first half, they stepped up early to start the second half. Vincent Iwuchukwu made two free throws, followed by Johnson's layup to spark a 10-0 run for the Trojans, who reclaimed the lead.

The Trojans swarming defense held the Bruins scoreless for the first six minutes of the second half until Aday Mara hit a free throw with 13:43 remaining, cutting the lead 44-35.

"We were awful, and we didn't score at least for the first five to seven minutes of the second half," said Cronin.

Tempers flared midway through the second half with athletic 6-foot-11 Trojan freshman Arrinten Page tried to hammer home a powerful dunk but was met midair by 6-foot-10 Bona. The midair collision foul led to Bona landing atop Page.

James gave Bona a light shove in the back, and then Rodman came over to push Bona off his teammate as he was getting up. An incited Bona rose to his feet, shoving James and Rodman, leading to a technical on the UCLA center. Page was later assessed as a technical on the play as well.

The Bruins, who found themselves down eleven with eight minutes remaining when the skirmish occurred, slowly chipped away at the lead, but it was two little too late as USC held on for the 62-56 win. It was USC's first win at UCLA since 2021.

"We are excited about getting this win," said Enfield, who is in his 11th season at USC. "It's rare to beat UCLA at Pauley Pavilion."

Despite their great shooting from deep on the night, the Trojans missed half of their twenty free throws, which could've been costly had the Bruins not shot 21 percent from three.

"Five for 31," exclaimed Cronin after the game when asked about what he saw from his backcourt. "Five for 31! Five for 31!!! They had 11 turnovers and five made baskets, our four guards. And we only lost by six. This is exactly what happens. They know."

The loss ensures that the only way this UCLA team, barely above .500 on the season, makes the NCAA tournament is by winning the final Pac-12 conference championship next month. The coach took this loss and his team's dwindling tournament chances hard.

"I feel bad, I'm not going to talk to anyone tonight. I'm going to hate myself, the job I did. The only person I'm talking to tonight is my dog, and that's it," said Cronin.

Both teams' next games will be on February 29th against the state of Washington schools. UCLA faces off against the Washington Huskies (15-13), and USC takes on the Washinton State Cougars (21-7).