Field Level Media
Jan 16, 2022
Will Richardson scored 19 of his game-high 28 points in the first half Saturday night as visiting Oregon capped a history-making week in the Pac-12 Conference with a 79-69 upset of No. 5 Southern Cal in Los Angeles.
De'Vion Harmon added 16 for the Ducks (11-6, 4-2 Pac-12) and N'Faly Dante chipped in 12 points, making all but one of his seven shots. Oregon sank 50 percent of its field goal attempts, including a 10-of-21 performance from the 3-point line.
The result enabled the Ducks to become the first Pac-12 team to sweep a conference road trip with two wins over top 10 opponents. On Thursday night, Oregon scored an overtime win at No. 3 UCLA.
Boogie Ellis and Isaiah Mobley each scored 18 points for the Trojans (14-2, 4-2), and Drew Peterson added 10 points, all in the second half.
USC struggled to hit shots, connecting on just 41.7 percent from the field, and allowed 15 fast-break points.
The Ducks led for all but 41 seconds of the game, pushing the margin as high as 18 points early in the second half.
The Trojans closed within 67-58 with 4:54 left when Chevez Goodwin made a free throw, but Richardson canned two foul shots 19 seconds later and Oregon's lead stayed in double figures for the game's remainder.
Oregon wasted little time putting its stamp on the game. It scored on its first five possessions, opening up a 12-5 lead on Dante's putback bucket less than three minutes in. Harmon's 3-pointer at the 15-minute mark upped the margin to 18-8.
With no home crowd to promote a rally -- only players' family members were allowed to attend due to COVID-19 concerns -- the Ducks kept converting and keeping USC at bay. Richardson's steal and layup boosted the advantage to 30-17 with 8:32 left.
Ellis drained a 3-pointer that pulled the Trojans within 32-27 with 4:01 remaining, but Oregon rattled off a 13-2 run to close the half. Eric Williams swished a stepback jumper just before the horn sounded, giving the Ducks a 45-29 cushion at the break.
--Field Level Media