National Basketball Association
Southern California 91, Brigham Young 84
When: 8:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 3, 2016
Where: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Officials:
# Shawn Lehigh, # Randy McCall, # Tony Padilla
Attendance:
7952
By The Sports Xchange
Elijah Stewart and Jordan McLaughlin sparked an early second-half rally as USC defeated BYU 91-84 on Saturday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
The Trojans went on a 14-5 run to start the second half to take a 53-37 lead and remain a perfect 8-0 record. McLaughlin (six) and Stewart (five) scored 11 of the 14 points as the Trojans took control.
The Cougars (5-3) closed the gap and got within eight at 59-51 on a jumper by Kyle Davis. But BYU turnovers led to 17 points and the Cougars lost for the third time in four games.
The Cougars made things a little uncomfortable late for the Trojans when Eric Mika's free throw closed the gap to 80-75 with 1:42 remaining.
But De'Anthony Melton's 3-pointer gave the Trojans some breathing room and Shaqquan Aaron made three free throws to ice the game.
McLaughlin led the Trojans with 24 points. He also had six rebounds, four assists and two steals. Aaron chipped in with 19 points and Stewart added 16 points.
Mika led BYU with 29 points and nine rebounds.
TJ Haws scored 16 points and Nick Emery had 15 points and five rebounds for the Cougars.
BYU jumped out to a 12-2 lead, but USC was able to scrap back to tie the score at 19 on Aaron's 3-pointer with 6:36 to go in the first half.
BYU maintained a narrow lead until Jonah Matthews' layup gave the Trojans a 28-27 lead with 2:34 left in the half.
From there, the Trojans outscored the Cougars 11-5 to take a 39-32 at halftime.
Mika scored 15 for the Cougars in the first half.
USC was without forward Bennie Boatwright (10.8 points, 4.0 rebounds), who will miss the next six weeks after suffering a knee injury against San Diego.
The Trojans have a week off before they play Pepperdine on Dec. 11. BYU takes on Weber State on Wednesday.
The Cougars and the Trojans were playing in the inaugural Hoophall LA doubleheader. In the earlier game, No. 8 Gonzaga defeated No. 16 Arizona 69-62.
Top Game Performances
Brigham Young |
|
Southern California |
Eric Mika 29 |
Scoring |
Jordan McLaughlin 24 |
L.J. Rose 3 |
Assists |
De'Anthony Melton 6 |
Eric Mika 9 |
Rebounds |
De'Anthony Melton 8 |
Eric Mika 9 |
Free Throws Made |
Jordan McLaughlin 7 |
TJ Haws 4 |
Steals |
Chimezie Metu 4 |
Yoeli Childs 2 |
Blocks |
Chimezie Metu 2 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Brigham Young
|
84 |
43.5 |
5-23 |
19-26 |
9 |
40 |
4 |
8 |
16 |
Southern California
|
91 |
45.5 |
9-21 |
22-30 |
15 |
33 |
4 |
11 |
10 |