LOS ANGELES — Another steal, this one an intercepted pass by Drew Peterson, and USC was off and running against Cal. Peterson took a few easy dribbles up the court, freshman Oziyah Sellers his running mate in transition.
Without much effort or concern, Peterson flipped the ball behind his back with his right hand to Sellers, who finished with his left hand off the glass.
It was the type of highlight that felt mundane by the end of the night. After a dispiriting road trip to Oregon, USC got back on track with an easy 97-60 victory over the Golden Bears on Thursday night at the Galen Center.
“We need some momentum; we have some tough games coming up and we had to play well tonight,” head coach Andy Enfield said. “It was important for us to play efficiently like we did.”
The Trojans (18-8 overall, 10-5 in Pac-12) got off to a 13-0 lead to open the game behind a couple of Peterson 3-pointers. Spotted that quick advantage, USC was able to throttle back to second or third gear for the rest of the game while still setting a season-high in points scored.
Peterson and Boogie Ellis were able to get back on track after poor shooting performances during USC’s latest road trip. The pair combined to 8 for 15 from 3-point range, each getting into double-digit scoring in the first half.
Peterson scored a career-high 30 points and orchestrated the USC fast-break for much of the night, with six assists as the Trojans scored 18 points in transition.
“I thought Boogie and Drew were more aggressive. They made quicker decisions,” Enfield said. “They shot it when they were open. If not, they put it on the floor and drove.”
And even without center Joshua Morgan (ankle) for the fourth straight game, USC showed a little more fortitude in the post defensively. Freshman Vincent Iwuchukwu looked more assured of himself, staying firm and steady when Cal leading scorer Lars Thiemann tried to post him up. Freshman Kijani Wright came off the bench and had some solid…
Read the full article here
