Field Level Media
Feb 28, 2019
Sophomore guard Jaylen Hands scored 21 points, including a clutch 3-pointer in overtime, as UCLA extended its winning streak to three games with a 93-88 victory over visiting Southern California on Thursday in Los Angeles.
Hands put the game out of reach, hitting a 30-foot 3-pointer to beat the shot clock with 21 seconds remaining for a 92-88 lead. His heroics came one game after he scored all 27 of his points in the second half during a victory over Oregon. He added 10 assists Thursday.
Sophomore guard Kris Wilkes and freshman guard Jules Bernard added 16 points each as the Bruins (16-13, 9-7 Pac-12) avenged an 80-67 road defeat to the Trojans on Jan. 19. Sophomore guard Chris Smith scored 13 points, and freshman center Moses Brown had 14 rebounds for the Bruins.
Senior forward Bennie Boatwright amassed 25 points and 15 rebounds, and junior guard Jonah Mathews added 17 as the Trojans (15-14, 8-8) lost for the fourth time in their past six games.
The teams entered tied for fifth place in the conference, with the Bruins able to keep pace with the top four in the league. The top four finishers in the Pac-12 get a bye on the first day of the conference tournament, which runs March 13-16 at Las Vegas.
USC and UCLA will close out the regular-season conference schedule next week at Utah and Colorado.
USC led 82-80 with 1:18 remaining in regulation after a 3-pointer by Boatwright, but Smith hit a short jumper in the lane with just under a minute to go to tie the score. Boatwright missed two 3-point attempts in the final minute, including one at the buzzer, to send the game into overtime.
USC junior forward Nick Rakocevic, who is second on team in scoring at 15.1 points per game and leads in rebounding at 9.4, was held to six points, but he did grab nine rebounds. USC was just 1 of 7 from the free-throw line one game after going 0 of 6 from the line against Oregon State.
USC freshman guard Kevin Porter Jr. went down with a knee injury with just over 15 minutes to play, returned briefly and then left for good with just under 10 minutes remaining.
--Field Level Media