Spokesman-Review
National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Southern California 65, Texas A&M 63
When: 7:00 PM ET, Friday, November 18, 2016
Where: Reed Arena, College Station, Texas
Officials: # Randall McCall, # Mike Reed, # Mike Scyphers
Attendance: 8749

Southern California erased a nine-point deficit in the final four minutes to take a 65-63 road victory over Texas A&M on Friday night.

The Trojans trailed by three points with 58 seconds left.

USC (3-0) was led by Chimezie Metu with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Jordan McLaughlin added 13 points and Elijah Stewart had 11 points and 10 boards.

Texas A&M (2-1) was led by D.J. Hogg with 17 points. He was 5 of 9 from 3-point range. Tonny Trocha-Morelos added 15 points and Robert Williams had 11.

The second half was back and forth throughout. USC opened a 40-33 lead early, but A&M scored eight quick points to take back the lead. The teams traded the lead for the next several possessions before Hogg hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give A&M a five-point lead.

The lead stayed between three and seven points for most of the rest of the half until USC's De'Anthony Melton hit a 3-pointer with 2:07 left. Devin Fleming had a tip-in to cut the lead to 62-60 with 1:52 left.

A free throw by Admon Gilder gave A&M a three-point lead, but two freebies by Bennie Boatright cut it to 63-62. After a miss by A&M, McLaughlin fed Metu for an alley-oop dunk and a 64-63 lead.

Melton then stole the ball and was fouled. He made the first and missed the second free throw, giving the Aggies a chance. Hogg had an open 3-pointer just before the buzzer but missed the shot and the Trojans escaped.

Texas A&M used an 18-2 run in 9:18 of the first half to open a 20-10 lead. Williams and Hogg each netted five points in the run.

But USC reeled off a 16-4 run to assume a 31-29 lead at halftime.

After missing their first 12 three-point shots, the Trojans hit their last four attempts from beyond the arc to tie the score at 31-all. A long jumper by McLaughlin at the buzzer gave the Trojans the halftime lead.
Top Game Performances
 
Southern California   Texas A&M
Chimezie Metu 14 Scoring DJ Hogg 17
Jordan McLaughlin 4 Assists Admon Gilder 4
Elijah Stewart 11 Rebounds Tyler Davis 8
Chimezie Metu 4 Free Throws Made Admon Gilder 4
De'Anthony Melton 3 Steals Admon Gilder 4
Shaqquan Aaron 1 Blocks Tyler Davis 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Southern California 65 35.8 5-26 12-15 10 39 5 6 11
Texas A&M 63 38.1 6-23 9-16 13 38 6 7 12