Last night, USC men's basketball faced Washington for the third time this season. But this time, the stakes were higher than ever before, as the two teams faced off in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament.
Despite trailing at the half, the Trojans locked in and made their way to a 78-73 victory over the Huskies to advance to the second round of the tournament.
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Sophomore forward Chimezie Metu led all scorers with 24 points on the night, and added 9 boards as the Trojans improved to 24-8 on the season. The sixth-seeded Trojans also got 13 points from Bennie Boatwright, 11 points from Jordan McLaughlin and 10 points form Shaqquan Aaron.
Five steals from McLaughlin, and 15 from the team overall, helped USC swing momentum in its favor and overcome a strong shooting night from the Huskies (53.8 percent from the floor to USC's 42.4).
The Trojans pulled away in the second half, holding a 14-point lead before Washington cut it to 3. Aaron drained two free throws to push it back to five as the clock wound down.
With the win, USC advanced to the second round, where it will face three-seed UCLA tonight at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN.
University Southern California Trojans
Wednesday, August 05
Wednesday, August 05
Wednesday, August 05
Tuesday, August 04
