LOS ANGELES — Drew Peterson has always been an initiator for the USC offense, but late in the second half against crosstown rival UCLA, the senior guard waved his teammates away. He felt he had a mismatch against Bruin forward Cody Riley and wanted to go one-on-one.

A few more dribbles, a jab step toward the basket and Peterson faded away, practically falling out of bounds. No matter how awkward the shot looked, Peterson just couldn’t miss on Saturday, and this 3-pointer was no exception.

Peterson could only grin as he trotted back down the court. His career-high 27 points and 12 rebounds lifted short-handed No. 21 USC to a 67-64 win over No. 12 UCLA.

Guard Tyger Campbell led the Bruins with 27 points. Chevez Goodwin and Reese Dixon-Waters added 10 each for USC, which won its fifth straight over the Bruins for the first time since 1943.

UCLA had a chance to tie after stealing the ball in the backcourt with 13 seconds to play, down by three. But Campbell got caught in the air and had to force away a bad pass that was stolen by Dixon-Waters, who passed ahead to Max Agbonkpolo for a layup to make it a two-possession game with five seconds left.

After a pair of Johnny Juzang free throws, USC was careless with the in-bounds pass. Campbell came away with the steal and hurled up a last-second effort that bounced off the rim to seal the USC win, prompting fans to storm the court.

It was a high-tempo game from the start, with both teams running furiously after misses. The Bruin guards got UCLA an early four-point lead, but 3-pointers from USC freshmen Harrison Hornery and Dixon-Waters put the Trojans in the lead.

And there USC stayed for much of the first half behind 5-for-10 shooting from 3-point range. Peterson alone hit three 3-pointers on his way to 15 first-half points.

His shooter’s touch was so finely tuned that even a fade-away jumper spun around the rim three times before going in. His hot shooting off-set the work done by Campbell, whose 16 first-half points matched his season total against USC in two games last year.

A corner 3 by Campbell completed an 8-0 UCLA run to tie the game in the last minute before halftime. But another Peterson jumper salvaged a 33-31 halftime advantage for USC.

UCLA missed its first six shots to open second half, but offensive rebounding helped Bruins retake the lead. UCLA tied it up on a Johnny Juzang second-chance 3 in the corner, then Campbell free throws put the Bruins up for first time since 11:12 mark of first half.

USC’s deficit grew as large as four, but a pair of Agbonkpolo floaters sandwiched around a block by the junior forward tied things up, to the delight of the sell-out Galen Center crowd.

USC students storm the court. Atmosphere was fantastic the entire game at the Galen Center. pic.twitter.com/lg5xwnOwJA

— Tarek Fattal (@Tarek_Fattal) February 13, 2022

The first USC students started lining up eight hours before tip-off, and the line eventually wrapped around the hotel neighboring the arena, with scores of students unable to get a seat.

They were in for an unpleasant surprise upon arrival, with leading scorer Isaiah Mobley (broken nose) in street clothes. But Peterson was there to pick up the slack for the Trojans, and play up to the crowd.

He gave a Jordan-like shrug after a pull-up jumper. He spread his arms wide after his bounce pass led Chevez Goodwin perfectly for a dunk. And his five blocks helped off-set the Bruins’ attempts to score in transition.

But the Trojans had to play essentially a perfect game to beat UCLA, and that’s what they did. They limited UCLA’s 18 offensive rebounds to 13 second-chance points, hit 11 of 12 free throws and blocked 10 shots.

Related Articles