Spokesman-Review
National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Colorado 83, Southern California 62
When: 2:00 PM ET, Saturday, January 18, 2014
Where: Coors Events Center, Boulder, Colorado
Officials: # Deidre Carr, # Michael Reed, # Tommy Nunez Jr.
Attendance: 9583

No. 22 Colorado 83, USC 62: Josh Scott matched his season high with 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds as the host Buffaloes ended a two-game losing streak in Pac-12 play.

Askia Booker finished with 13 points and six assists and Xavier Johnson and Jaron Hopkins added 10 points apiece for Colorado (15-4, 4-2). Wesley Gordon helped the Buffaloes to a 43-23 advantage on the boards by grabbing a team-high eight rebounds while also contributing a season-high five blocked shots.

J.T. Terrell scored 16 points off the bench for the Trojans (9-9, 0-5). USC 7-2 center Omar Oraby had 16 points and six rebounds before fouling out for the fourth time this season and Byron Wesley finished with nine points after a scoreless first half while shooting 3-for-14.

Colorado got off to a 20-2 head start thanks to 18 unanswered points. The Trojans missed nine consecutive field-goal attempts before Oraby ended the run with a three-point play with just under 12 minutes left in the first half, and USC pulled within 12 points seven times before the Buffaloes stretched the advantage back to 17 at the break.

The Trojans scored the first four points of the second half and Colorado missed its first three shots before Scott scored on a putback in a 9-0 run that put the Buffaloes back on top by 22 points. Colorado avoided its first three-game losing streak since dropping four in a row from Jan. 18-29, 2011, when the Buffaloes were still members of the Big 12.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Buffaloes have their best record through 19 games since the 2005-06 season. … Wesley, who came in averaging a team-high 16.9 points, missed his first seven field-goal attempts before scoring on a slam dunk with just over 15 minutes left. He finished in single digits in scoring for the second straight game and third time overall this season. … Colorado finished with 10 blocked shots.
Top Game Performances
 
Southern California   Colorado
Omar Oraby 16 Scoring Josh Scott 20
Pe'Shon Howard 3 Assists Askia Booker 6
Omar Oraby 6 Rebounds Wesley Gordon 8
Julian Jacobs 4 Free Throws Made Askia Booker 6
Julian Jacobs 3 Steals Jaron Hopkins 2
Omar Oraby 1 Blocks Wesley Gordon 5
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Southern California 62 36.8 4-16 16-17 9 22 3 6 11
Colorado 83 50.9 6-16 19-22 15 40 10 8 12