McKinley Wright IV had 20 points and eight rebounds, D'Shawn Schwartz scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half, and the Colorado Buffaloes beat the USC Trojans 69-65 in Los Angeles on Saturday night.

Evan Battey scored 14 points off the bench and Lucas Siewert had 12 before fouling out for Colorado, which has won three in a row.

Bennie Boatwright scored a game-high 24 points and Shaqquan Aaron had 13 for USC. The Trojans have lost two straight at home.

The game was tight throughout, with the Buffaloes taking a five-point lead on Shane Gatling's 3-pointer and jumper that made it 44-39 with 13:30 left.

Boatwright responded with a five-point run of his own to tie the game again at 44 a minute later.

The game continued to go back and forth. Colorado went up 52-47 on Schwartz's layup but Aaron tied it on a 3-pointer. The Buffaloes went up four on Battey's offensive rebound and layup, and after Aaron again hit a 3-pointer, Tyler Bey's dunk put Colorado ahead 58-55 with 5:59 left.

USC responded with five straight points -- all by Boatwright -- but Schwartz's three-point play with 4:02 left gave the Buffaloes a 61-60 lead.

The Trojans hit two free throws but Schwartz answered with jumper, and Boatwright split a pair of free throws to tie it at 63 with 3:05 left.

The teams then traded layups. Wright twice drove the lane around a layup by Jonah Matthews that gave Colorado a 67-65 lead. Both teams missed 3-pointers and USC called a timeout with 34.7 seconds left.

Derryck Thornton missed a 3-pointer from the top of the arc and Colorado grabbed the rebound. Schwartz was fouled and hit two free throws with 14.2 seconds left.

Wright and Siewert combined for 15 points in the first half to help Colorado get a small lead but the Trojans were able to stay close and tie it thanks to a pair of three-point plays late, the last by Aaron with four seconds left before halftime to tie it at 29.

--Field Level Media