BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Chevez Goodwin scored all 18 of his points in the second half and grabbed 14 rebounds, Max Agbonkpolo added 11 points and hit 3 of 4 free throws in the final 15 seconds, and No. 16 Southern California ended three years of frustration against Colorado with a 61-58 victory on Thursday night.
Isaiah Mobley had 13 points and six rebounds and Boogie Ellis overcame foul trouble to score 11 for the Trojans (15-2, 5-2 Pac-12), who had dropped seven straight to the Buffaloes (12-5, 4-3).
Jabari Walker scored 13 points for Colorado, but he had the ball stripped away by Drew Peterson with 7 seconds left and the Buffaloes trailing by three. Evan Battey scored seven of his 11 points in the first half and Tristan da Silva also scored 11 in Colorado's second loss in eight games.
USC, a 61.3% free-throw shooting team coming in, hit 12 of 17 and just enough down the stretch in its first game since tumbling 11 spots in
The Buffaloes were without senior guard and key defender Elijah Parquet (foot), who had started every game since December 2019. Sophomore Nique Clifford replaced him as coach Tad Boyle adjusted his starting lineup for the first time this season.
Clifford had an emphatic dunk midway through the second half and his 3-pointer with 8:16 left put Colorado ahead 47-43.
Colorado was dominated inside most of the night, struggling to finish at the rim and getting outrebounded 47-32. Walker missed a layup with 41 seconds left that would have put the Buffaloes ahead.
Neither team led by more than seven points as the Trojans shot just 37% from the field. Colorado made 31% of its shots.
USC coach Andy Enfield was booed lustily as he was introduced in what has become an increasingly tense rivalry. It dates to 2018, when Boyle said after beating Arizona that he “absolutely” took extra satisfaction in beating a school that was involved in an FBI corruption probe.
A week later, Enfield, whose school was also a subject of the probe, took a timeout with 21 seconds left up 12 against the Buffaloes. Boyle said he would never forget what Enfield did. Neither have Colorado fans, who gave some of their largest cheers when Enfield picked up a technical foul early in the second half.
Colorado had since dominated the series, including a victory in last year's Pac-12 Tournament semifinals.
BIG PICTURE
USC: The Trojans made the key plays down the stretch a week after frustrating losses to Stanford and Oregon. USC had lost two of three after an 13-0 start.
Colorado: The Buffaloes' flickering NCAA Tournament hopes took another hit as they fell to 0-4 against ranked teams.
UP NEXT
USC: Visits Utah on Saturday.
Colorado: Home vs. No. 9 UCLA on Saturday night.
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