Field Level Media
Dec 1, 2020
Drew Peterson scored 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting to help Southern California roll to a 79-53 victory over cold-shooting BYU in the Roman Legends Classic at Uncasville, Conn.
Evan Mobley added 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting and collected 11 rebounds as the Trojans (3-0) used a 28-5 burst spanning both halves to turn a close game into a rout.
Tahj Eaddy scored 16 points for USC, which shot 53.3 percent from the field and 6 of 14 from 3-point range. Isaiah Mobley, the older brother of Evan, registered 11 points and 11 rebounds.
BYU (3-1) never found a shooting groove as it finished at 27.5 percent and was 7 of 30 from 3-point range.
Matt Haarms had 11 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots in his second game for the Cougars since transferring from Purdue. Gideon George also had 11 points and six rebounds.
The event scrapped its tournament format on Monday when Vanderbilt pulled out due to COVID-19 issues. USC will play Connecticut on Thursday and BYU faces St. John's on Wednesday.
Peterson scored 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the first half to help the Trojans hold a 31-20 lead at the break. USC ripped off the final 10 points of the half -- Peterson scoring the first six, Mobley the final four -- to account for the 11-point cushion.
The Cougars trailed 21-20 after Brandon Averette's jumper with 4:49 left in the half. BYU missed its final 11 field-goal attempts of the half and 18 of its last 19.
The Cougars also missed their first shot of the second half before Barcello hit a 3-pointer 33 seconds into the stanza. BYU then missed its next eight attempts as the Trojans pulled away. Eaddy's basket capped the 28-5 surge to give USC a 49-25 lead with 14:20 left in the contest.
Another basket by Eaddy pushed the lead to 56-29 with 11:51 remaining.
Eaddy later drained a 3-pointer and added a jumper to increase the margin to 30 for the first time at 72-42 with 3:56 left.
--Field Level Media