Utah Utes vs Southern California Trojans Match Player Stats On Dec 01, 2021

Isaiah Mobley scored a career-high 21 points and matched his career best of 13 rebounds to help No. 20 Southern California record a 93-73 victory over Utah in the Pac-12 opener for both teams on Wednesday night at Los Angeles.

Boogie Ellis scored 16 of his 19 points in the first half for the Trojans (7-0, 1-0 Pac-12). Ellis made four 3-pointers to help USC post its sixth double-digit win of the season.

Max Agbonkpolo added 16 points, Drew Peterson scored 11 and Ethan Anderson added 10 for the Trojans, who shot 52.2 percent from the field and made 7 of 20 from 3-point range. USC held a 51-32 rebounding edge.

Both Gach tied a career high with 28 points, including 24 in the second half, as Utah (5-2, 0-1) lost its second straight game.

David Jenkins Jr. made five 3-pointers while scoring 21 points, and Riley Battin had 10 points for the Utes.

Utah played the final 31 minutes without leading scorer Branden Carlson, who sustained a left lower-leg injury. Carlson entered with a 15.7 scoring average.

The Utes shot 37.7 percent from the field, including 10 of 27 from behind the arc.

USC led 17-14 when Carlson was injured and outscored the Utes by 17 the remainder of the half for a 48-28 lead at the break.

Anderson and Mobley hit back-to-back jumpers immediately after Carlson's departure to cap a 9-0 burst and give the Trojans a seven-point edge.

Ellis later made consecutive 3-pointers to start a 13-0 surge as USC increased its lead to 48-26. Anderson capped the run with a three-point play.

The Trojans shot 61.8 percent from the field in the first half. Utah shot 29.7 percent.

Mobley and Agbonkpolo began the second half with baskets to give USC a 52-28 advantage.

The Utes whittled the deficit to 61-45 on a 3-pointer by Jenkins with 12:47 remaining.

Ellis buried a 3-pointer to briefly stem the Utah push, but Gach followed with a layup and a 3-pointer to cut the USC lead to 14 with 9:51 to play.

Gach hit another shot to bring the Utes within 68-55 with 8:42 remaining. But the Trojans answered with an 11-4 run, and Agbonkpolo's dunk made it 79-59 with 6:14 left to end the comeback attempt.

--Field Level Media