USC beat Arizona State on the road Saturday, 77-69, moving the Trojans to 14-6 overall and 6-3 in Pac-12 play.
Just a few minutes into play, USC took a 5-4 lead and never looked back, maintaining a lead the remainder of the game.
“We moved the ball well tonight, and we got open looks; we were able to drive it, we made the right play, we shot it when we had to, we passed it at the right time and we were very aggressive,” head coach Andy Enfield said. “We did play really good offense.”
Fifth-year guard Drew Peterson and senior guard Boogie Ellis led the Trojans with 19 and 18 points, respectively.
Ellis was the most consistent performer from start to finish, racking up nine points in each half on 7-of-16 shooting, including going 4-for-10 from 3-point range. Ellis added six rebounds, four assists and three steals to his statline.
“He played a great floor game,” Enfield said of Ellis. “He made shots and also rebounded the ball.”
Two key scorers for the Trojans in the first half were freshman guard Tre White and freshman forward Vincent Iwuchukwu.
White recorded eight first-half points and finished the game with 12 total on 5-of-10 shooting.
Iwuchukwu, in his fourth career collegiate game, also had eight points in the first half. He finished with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting. The 7-foot-1 big man, who ranked 25th in the 2022 recruiting class, added five boards and one block.
“He was very good tonight,” Enfield said of Iwuchukwu. “He offensively finished around the rim, and then defensively, he still has to get better. He’s working on it.”
USC played well as a team and went into halftime with a 43-33 lead.
Peterson broke out in the second half, recording 15 points. He finished the game with 19 points and shot 7-for-11, including 3-for-6 from deep. He filled up the remainder of his statsheet with eight rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks, all of which led the Trojans or were tied for the lead.
“He had a full line of every stat this game,” Enfield said of Peterson’s all-around performance.
With four minutes remaining, USC had a 77-57 lead. However, USC’s seven turnovers within these last minutes — four of which were given up by Peterson — allowed the Sun Devils to cut their deficit to 10 with one minute remaining.
“The last four minutes was one of the worst four minutes of basketball I’ve ever been a part of,” Enfield said. “You’re talking about two senior guards [Peterson and Ellis] that turned it over. You’re talking about [sophomore guard Reese Dixon-Waters] and Tre that are good ball handlers.”
It was too little too late, however, as USC held off the Sun Devils in the final minute of play.
“I’m actually glad that we can learn from this because that can never happen again,” Enfield said. “They just relaxed and didn’t finish the game the way they should’ve.”
USC will return home to face No. 5 UCLA at Galen Center on Thursday at 6 p.m.
“We have to play like we did for 36 minutes tonight. Pretty simple,” Enfield said. “If we play like that, we’ll be fine. We’ll have a great home crowd advantage. We’re very good at home.”
The last time the Trojans faced the Bruins was on the road on Jan. 5, and the Trojans lost 60-58.