LOS ANGELES — The USC men’s basketball team had watched what was once a comfortable 16-point lead get whittled away by Long Beach State, all the way down to one after a split pair of free throws. The Trojans needed someone to step up and avert disaster in the regional matchup.

It was not one of USC’s seniors who filled the role or even one of its starters. Instead, it was sophomore guard Reese Dixon-Waters.

Recently moved into a reserve role, Dixon-Waters confidently pulled up for a mid-range jumper in transition to push USC’s lead to three. Then on the next possession, he spun along the baseline to get under the basket for a layup off the backboard.

It gave USC enough breathing room to close out an 88-78 win.

Dixon-Waters and guard Tre White led the Trojans (8-3) with 20 points apiece, both career highs. Drew Peterson added 15 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. Marcus Tsohonis led LBSU (4-6) with 17 points, while 6-foot-5 Aboubacar Traore had 16 points and 16 rebounds.

Technically, this was a wire-to-wire win for the Trojans. But saying so implies some sense of ease for the victory. LBSU never let the Trojans feel comfortable, however, even without veteran guard Jadon Jones for the fourth straight game.

Long Beach dominated the glass with a 50-32 rebounding advantage and a whopping 22 offensive rebounds. The visitors forced 12 USC turnovers with six steals. When it got the ball, Long Beach was not afraid to push the ball in transition with 16 fast-break points.

When Amari Stroud intercepted a high pass intended for Boogie Ellis and took it the distance for a tomahawk dunk with 10:12 to play in the first half, USC head coach Andy Enfield called a timeout in frustration.

His frustrations did not end there.

Long Beach grabbed the offensive rebound on five of its first six misses in the second half. A second-chance basket by Traore cut the USC lead to eight, then A.J. George stepped in front of a Peterson pass and turned it into a Tsohonis layup, forcing another USC timeout.

Out of the break, LBSU forced the Trojans into a shot-clock violation. Back-to-back 3-pointers from White and Ellis gave USC some reprieve, but not much.

A third-chance layup by Joel Murray and a Tsohonis 3-pointer made it a three-point game with 13:02 left, the closest it had been since USC led 7-5 in the early minutes of the game. Tsohonis then stole a Johnson pass and took it up the court before confidently burying another 3-pointer to trim USC’s lead to 62-60.

But that’s when Dixon-Waters began to take over. He wrestled for an offensive rebound with three minutes remaining and had his second-chance shot goal tended. Then he buried a corner 3-pointer a minute later to give USC a nine-point edge.

Dixon-Waters began the season as a starter, one of USC’s most experienced players. But his new role off the bench has allowed him to flourish offensively, averaging 13.5 points over the past four contests. And he was part of the closing unit for the Trojans as they escaped with a win.

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