Field Level Media
Mar 4, 2018
Aaron Holiday scored a career-high 34 points, leading UCLA to an 83-72 victory over Southern California on Saturday night at the Galen Center in Los Angeles.
Holiday posted his third career 30-point game. Each of the junior guard's 30-point games occurred this season.
He made 11 of 16 field goals and 6 of 9 3-point attempts. Holiday matched a career high for field goals and set a career best for 3-pointers as UCLA (20-10, 11-7 Pac-12) shot 50.8 percent and made 13 of 27 3-point tries.
Freshman Kris Wilkes added a career-high 22 points as the Bruins played without fourth-leading scorer Jaylen Hinds (sprained right ankle).
Jordan McLaughlin led USC (21-10, 12-6) with 19 points. Chimezie Metu added 16 points and 10 rebounds but Elijah Stewart made just 3 of 10 shots, missed five of six 3-point attempts and was held to 12 points.
USC opened a 30-20 lead when Stewart made a 3-pointer with 8:05 remaining. The Trojans went scoreless for nearly three minutes as UCLA ripped off 11 straight points and took a one-point lead on a 3-pointer by Wilkes with 5:33 left.
There were seven lead changes the rest of the half and USC took a 43-40 lead at halftime on a jumper by McLaughlin with 48 seconds left.
Holiday tied the game at 60-60 on a layup with 9:06 remaining. Holiday hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with eight minutes remaining for a 65-61 lead.
Wilkes set his new career high with a jumper at the 7:26 mark and a 3-pointer by Alex Olesinksi with 6:25 left pushed the lead to 72-63.
Holiday set a new a career high for 3-pointers with 3:33 remaining when he gave UCLA a 77-70 lead. He reached 30 points on an acrobatic layup on UCLA's next possession and then finished it off at the foul line.
--Field Level Media