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LOS ANGELES — USC’s men’s basketball team was on a losing skid for most of December.
It will enter Pac-12 play later this week on a winning streak.
The Trojans defeated UC Davis, 73-55, on Sunday night, leading for nearly the entire second half after the teams traded baskets for much of the early goings at Galen Center. It marked their second consecutive victory after defeating Southern Utah nine days earlier before taking a break for Christmas.
Senior forward Bennie Boatwright scored a game-high 19 points, as the Trojans moved to 7-6 overall in their final non-conference game. Point guard Derryck Thornton added 16 points, while his backup, freshman Elijah Weaver, finished with a career-high 13 points after he missed the previous game due to an ankle injury.
“We’ve been fighting a lot throughout the season,” Thornton said. “We had injuries, a lot of up and down. It feels good, before conference, to end with a bang.”
The long-range shots fell for USC in the second half as it withstood several attempted rallies by UC Davis, which at one point cut the deficit to a point with nearly 12 minutes left.
After shooting 3 of 13 from 3-point range in the first half, the Trojans went 7 of 10 from beyond the arc after halftime, including two apiece from Thornton and Weaver, that put them in a comfortable position. Across the floor, they Trojans shot 64 percent in the second half.
“It’s very frustrating when you have wide open shots to keep missing and missing,” Coach Andy Enfield said, “but in the second half, that’s why we extended the lead. We finally made three or four in a row.”
Thronton pushed the Trojans’ lead into double-digits for good when he hit a straightaway 3-pointer with 5:39 remaining, giving them a 63-53 advantage, working to erase the stench from a four-game losing streak earlier this month that included the most lopsided loss of their six seasons under Enfield. The Trojans open Pac-12 play against Cal on Thursday.
The Trojans ultimately sealed their win Sunday on the defensive end holding the visiting Aggies (3-10) without a point for the final four-plus minutes, prompting most of the fans in the announced crowd of 3,127 to head toward the exits.
“In a timeout, I kind of just pulled my guys aside and was like, ‘Hey, let’s get a stop, let’s finish the game,’” Weaver said. “And (Thornton) was also just telling us if we get stops, we don’t even have to score. Let’s get stops and we’ll win the game.”
Though Weaver returned from injury, the Trojans remained limited to an eight-man rotation.
Added to the list of players who were sidelined was sophomore wing Jordan Usher, who is indefinitely suspended due to unspecified conduct issues. Enfield said after the game that the discipline was leveled by the coaching staff, but did not provide further reasons for his absence. Kevin Porter Jr., the talented freshman guard, remained out with a thigh bruise.
Weaver looked healthy in his return from the ankle, scoring eight of his 13 points in the second half, with a couple baskets during a 7-0 run midway through the final period that included a pull-up jump shot in transition.
Before missing the previous game against Southern Utah, Weaver had aggravated his left ankle during a game against Oklahoma on Dec. 15, the same ankle he had surgery on in August.
“It feels good,” Weaver said. “I’m not even worried about it. The less I focus on it, the better it gets.”
Before the Trojans pulled ahead late in the game, they fell behind by as many as seven points in the first half before an 11-2 spurt gave them a 32-30 lead at halftime, capped by a 3-pointer from Boatwright to beat the shot clock on their second-to-last possession of the first half.
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