Oregon led by as many as 20 points in the second half before holding off visiting USC, 68-62, in the debut of the Matthew Knight Arena on Thursday.

Oregon junior guard Garrett Sim, who finished with 10 points, scored the first points in the $227 million arena with 17:12 left in the first half.

Johnathan Loyd had 12 points and five rebounds for the Ducks (8-9, 1-4 Pac-10), while Tyrone Nared and E.J. Singler added 10 points each. Malcolm Armstead scored 11 for Oregon, which snapped a six-game losing streak.

Nikola Vucevic recorded a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds to pace USC (10-7, 2-2), which trailed 32-26 at halftime. After Oregon jumped to a 57-37 lead midway through the second half, USC used a 23-8 run to close to within five with two minutes remaining.

Alex Stephenson had nine points and eight rebounds for USC, while Donte Smith and Maurice Jones scored 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Oregon, which entered the game shooting a league-worst 40.7 percent from the field, shot 24 of 57 (42.1 percent) in its first game at the 12,500-seat facility that replaces McArthur Court, the home of Ducks’ basketball since 1927.