University Southern California Trojans
USC Men's Basketball Falls At Oregon State, 86-70
December 30, 2023 | Men's Basketball
CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) — Tyler Bilodeau scored a career-high 27 points and Jordan Pope added 20 to lead host Oregon State to an 86-70 victory Saturday night over Southern California.
Oregon State (9-4, 1-1 Pac-12) scored the first 11 points of the second half, culminated by Pope's 3-pointer to extend the lead to 50-30 with 15:13 remaining.
USC (6-7, 0-2 Pac-12) responded with a 9-0 run, but the Beavers quickly regained control and maintained a double-digit lead the remainder of the game.
KC Ibekwe's three-point play gave Oregon State its largest lead at 64-41 midway through the second half.
Bronny James was one of the few bright spots for USC with a season-high 15 points. Playing in his fifth game since making his collegiate debut Dec. 6, James made an immediate impact.
The freshman guard entered the game at 12:17 of the first half and within seconds came up with a steal at midcourt that he converted into a three-point play.
James had another steal late in the first half, and dribbled the length of the court for a slam dunk.
James, who is the oldest son of LeBron James, was 6 of 11 from the field in a season-high 20 minutes, made two 3-pointers, and had two assists and one steal. He continues to play under a minutes restriction since suffering a cardiac arrest during practice July 24.
Back-to-back threes from Bronny James and he's got a career-high 15 points on the night.
— USC Men's Basketball (@USC_Hoops) December 31, 2023
📺: @Pac12Network
📱: https://t.co/sun5jxIL31 pic.twitter.com/Hpf1P9jJB5
Boogie Ellis scored 20 points to lead the Trojans.
OSU led 39-30 at the break behind 11 points from Bilodeau and 10 from Pope.
Both teams committed 14 turnovers in a sloppy first half. Isaiah Collier, the Trojans' second-leading scorer, had two points and four turnovers in the opening half. He finished with seven points.
Dexter Akanno had 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting and made 3 of 3 from behind the arc for the Beavers.
BIG PICTURE
USC: The Trojans have lost five of their last six games and are off to a slow start in the Pac-12. Three straight conference home games should help.
Oregon State: Oregon State is just two wins away from matching last season's total.
UP NEXT
USC: The Trojans will host California on Wednesday.
