University Southern California Trojans
USC
UCLA
Trojans Unable To Take Down Bruins In Pauley Pavilion
February 09, 2000 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 9, 2000
By BETH HARRIS
AP Sports Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Freshman Jason Kapono scored 25 of his career-high 27 in the second half and Earl Watson added 22 as UCLA defeated Southern California 83-78 Wednesday night.
The Bruins (13-8, 4-6 Pac-10) ended a three-game losing streak and sent the crosstown rival Trojans (13-9, 6-4) to their seventh consecutive loss at Pauley Pavilion.
UCLA likely salvaged its NCAA tournament hopes with the win against USC, which was in fourth place in the Pac-10 coming in.
USC, which snapped a 10-game losing streak to UCLA with a 91-79 victory at the Sports Arena last month, led by 10 points three times in the first half in trying to complete a sweep of UCLA for just the third time ever.
But Watson kept the Bruins in first half with 15 points when Kapono was limited to two points in 17 minutes.
The freshman took over in the second half with the game tied at 46. Kapono singlehandedly outscored USC 17-14 in an eight-minute span to put the Bruins up 63-60 with 7:21 remaining. He hit two 3-pointers in a wild stretch in which neither team led by more than four points.
A slam dunk by Jerome Moiso pushed UCLA's lead to 69-62 as the Trojans stalled out with missed shots and turnovers.
Jeff Trepagnier scored 21 points, Brian Scalabrine 20 and David Bluthenthal had 19 points and 15 rebounds for the Trojans. They got within two points with 27 seconds left on a 3-pointer by Trepagnier, but Kapono was fouled and hit both free throws for a 78-74 lead.
Trepagnier scored on a dunk to make it 78-76 with 19 seconds remaining. Ryan Bailey made two free throws and Ray Young made one of two for an 81-76 lead with eight seconds left.
