USC
19-3,9-3Pac-12
Arizona State
6-13,2-7Pac-12
No. 19 USC Men's Basketball Rallies In 58-53 Win At Arizona State Behind Boogie Ellis, Isaiah Mobley
February 03, 2022 | Men's Basketball
Boogie Ellis scored a game-high 21 points — seven from the final 45 seconds of the game — as No. 19 USC men's basketball rallied late to beat Arizona State, 58-53 in Tempe on Thursday night.
Isaiah Mobley had 12 points — including two clutch buckets that kept the Trojans (19-3, 9-3 Pac-12) in the game during crunch time — and grabbed nine rebounds.
Drew Peterson had a career-best 12 boards for the Trojans, which grabbed a season-high 58 rebounds compared to the Sun Devils' 39. USC's 20 offensive rebounds was also a season high.
The Trojans swept their season series over Arizona State (6-13, 2-7 Pac-12) after USC won the first meeting on Jan. 24 at Galen Center, 78-56.
The Trojans survived despite shooting a season low 30% from the field. Arizona State's defense bothered USC all night and blocked 11 of the Trojans' shots.
Contrary to recent trends, USC started the game on a blistering 14-2 run highlighted by two 3-pointers from Ellis.
The Trojans immediately hit a wall following its hot start, going on a six-minute scoring drought and missing 18 of their last 21 field goals of the half while the Sun Devils trailed by just two points at halftime.Off to a sizzling start in the desert. @BoogieEllis' deep 3 gives us a 10-2 lead.
— USC Men's Basketball (@USC_Hoops) February 4, 2022
đź“ş: ESPN2
📱: https://t.co/E08qPi5etA pic.twitter.com/ikWhRclpvk
The Trojans' shooting woes continued in the second half. Arizona State took its first lead at the 17:12 mark and later hit USC with a 9-1 run. Jalen Graham made a layup that gave the Sun Devils their largest lead at eight points with 11:16 remaining.
USC quickly roared back on a 10-2 run, with Max Agbonkpolo's wing 3-pointer tying the game with 6:03 left.
The Trojans still had trouble taking back the lead until the 2:06 mark when Mobley hit a 3-pointer to give USC a one-point edge. Arizona State took it back with Jalen Graham's and-one play, but Mobley tied the game again with a contested layup with 58.6 seconds remaining.
Trojans retake the lead with a @MobleyIsaiah triple!
— USC Men's Basketball (@USC_Hoops) February 4, 2022
đź“ş: ESPN2
📱: https://t.co/E08qPi5etA pic.twitter.com/mEXCnKnGcX
USC switched to a zone defense in the final minute, disrupting the Sun Devils' next two possessions and led to Ellis making three of four free-throw attempts. Ellis made two more foul shots after Kimani Lawrence made a layup for Arizona State closed out the game with a fastbreak dunk in the game's final second.
That'll do it. pic.twitter.com/VT6vrl7GLq
— USC Men's Basketball (@USC_Hoops) February 4, 2022
Graham finished with a career-high 14 points for the Sun Devils.
USC's next two games make up the Trojans' toughest stretch of the season. The Trojans head to Tucson on Saturday to face No. 7 Arizona — which defeated No. 3 UCLA on Thursday — before returning to the Galen Center on Feb. 12 to host the rival Bruins.
