LOS ANGELES — Late in the second half, USC guard Drew Peterson took a retreat dribble to survey the court. He looked up, looked around and started waiving to his teammates to move out of the way.
He sized up his UCLA defender before pulling up for a deep 3-pointer, his fourth of the night, en route to a career-high 27 points as the No. 21-ranked Trojans downed No. 12 UCLA for the fifth straight time 67-64 at the Galen Center on ESPN in front of a sellout crowd Saturday night.
It’s a streak the Trojans (21-4, 10-4) hold over the Bruins for the first time since the 1940’s. But the woes UCLA are fighting through are nowhere near as old. Uninspired defense, streaky shooting and a lack of toughness all reared their ugly heads once again.
The Bruins (17-5, 9-4 Pac-12) have now lost three of their last four and sit in fourth place in the Pac-12 Conference.
“We’ve dropped a few (games) already,” junior Johnny Juzang said. “After those, you want to make that turnaround. You take it, you grow from it. I feel like we aren’t turning that corner. In the past, I feel like we’ve had great bounce back, but for whatever reason we aren’t getting it right now and it’s frustrating.”
Juzang added: “As one of the leaders, it’s also tough when you can’t contribute on the offensive end as much as you want. We gotta figure it out.”
Juzang had just 12 points on 4 of 16 shooting. The only other Bruin in double digits was Tyger Campbell, who poured in a career-high 27 points himself. UCLA shot 30% as a team.
Jules Bernard was just 1 of 9 from the field for two points. Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored just five points, he was 2 for 11.
“He didn’t look like himself tonight,” Cronin said of the junior forward, who’s been dealing with an ankle injury. “Anyone who knows us, or watches us, knows. He really struggled to move tonight.”
Cronin credited Peterson’s performance, but didn’t think that’s why the Bruins lost. Cronin pointed to the painted area, where UCLA was outplayed despite the absence of the Trojans leading scorer, 6-foot-10 Isaiah Mobley, who didn’t play due to a fractured nose.
“Points in the paint were minus 10, that’s why we lost. They were the tougher team,” said Cronin.
Here’s the other hard pill to swallow, USC’s second leading scorer Boogie Ellis was scoreless in the game, going 0 for 7 from the field.
Amid the chaos, somehow the Bruins were within striking distance with under 20 seconds to play. Campbell stole the ball with 13 seconds left trailing 65-62, but turned it back over.
“Disappointing,” Cronin said about Campbell’s turnover. “But he’s the only reason we were in the game.”
A late-game turnover by the Trojans left Campbell with the ball in his hands with two seconds left before he heaved a potential game-tying 3-pointer, but it was off the mark.
“It looked good, but it didn’t go in, so it doesn’t matter,” Campbell said.
Juzang, Campbell and Cronin were clearly deflated in the post-game press conference Saturday night as the lingering cheers from the court could still be heard. An apparent sting was visible. USC students stormed the court after the win. It’s the second time the Bruins have seen it in a week. Arizona State students stormed the court after its triple-overtime victory.
“I don’t know why anyone would storm the court for beating us,” Cronin said sarcastically.