EUGENE, Ore. — USC dug itself a big hole early and never recovered.
N’Faly Dante scored 17 points, Will Richardson added 16 and Oregon posted a wire-to-wire 78-60 victory over USC on Thursday night.
Dante was 8 for 11 from the floor for the Ducks (15-10 overall, 9-5 Pac-12). He added five rebounds, three blocked shots and three steals. Richardson shot 4 for 6 from the field with two 3-pointers and hit all six of his free throws. Jermaine Couisnard had 13 points and Nate Bittle contributed 11 points and six rebounds.
Boogie Ellis led the Trojans (17-7, 9-4) with 19 points and four assists. Drew Peterson and Kobe Johnson added 11 points apiece. USC had a four-game win streak end.
Couisnard scored 11 points and N’Faly added nine to guide the Ducks to a 42-27 lead at halftime. Peterson hit a 3-pointer seven minutes into the game to pull the Trojans within 11-10. It was all Ducks after that.
Dante answered with a three-point play, igniting an 18-1 run and Oregon led 29-11 with 12 minutes left in the half. Kel’el Ware had back-to-back dunks in the run, the second leading to a three-point play.
USC got no closer than 14 points in the second half. The Ducks pushed their lead to 20 on three occasions.
Oregon shot 54% overall but just 6 of 18 from behind the arc. USC shot 41% and was just 4 for 16 from long range. The Trojans finished with 12 turnovers to Oregon’s 11, but the Ducks had a 17-3 edge in points off turnovers.
The Trojans lead the series 69-60, but the Ducks are 16-7 under Coach Dana Altman.
More to come on this story.
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