Trojans lose and go 0 for Oregon
They fall to Ducks for seventh straight time and drop to 1-8 in the Pac-12, 0-5 on road.
EUGENE, Ore. — The Oregon Ducks seemed more relieved than excited after beating USC on Saturday.
Joseph Young scored 21 points, including a threepointer that touched off a key 12-0 Oregon run midway through the second half, and the Ducks went on to win, 7866.
“It’s always important to get a win,” said Jason Calliste, who finished with 18 points. “But just the way we played was more satisfying, I guess you could say.”
Oregon (15-6, 3-6 Pac-12) led by as many as 17 points and had 16 steals, finishing one shy of the school record. Young had a career-high six.
The Ducks, who lost to UCLA on Thursday night, had dropped six of seven games after opening the season with 13 straight wins and climbing as high as No. 10 in the AP rankings.
Byron Wesley finished with 19 points for the Trojans (10-12, 1-8), who have lost seven in a row to the Ducks.
“They just came out and really punched us in the mouth,” Wesley said.
USC, which lost in overtime Thursday at Oregon State, is now 0-5 on the road in conference play. The Trojans were plagued by turnovers Saturday, finishing with a season-high 22. The Ducks kept them off-balance by pressing on defense.
“I feel like each game that we play, we’re getting better on defense,” Young said.
USC led 38-34 at halftime, but Young’s threepointer, four straight points from Calliste and Ben Carter’s layup gave Oregon a 5344 lead with 12:02 left.
“They did a good job both halves on their full-court and half-court pressure and we seemed to fumble balls and dribble a few off our feet. We threw it out of bounds. Just some unusual turnovers that we usually don’t make,” USC Coach Andy Enfield said.
The Trojans jumped out to a 12-6 lead on Wesley’s jumper, but Oregon responded with a 7-0 run capped by Young’s layup and free throw to take a 13-12 lead midway through the first half. USC tied it at 25 after Pe’Shon Howard’s threepointer, but the Trojans didn’t pull back in front until J.T. Terrell made a pair of free throws and Omar Oraby dunked for a 31-28 lead.
Up next for USC is a home game against UCLA next Saturday. The Ducks face No. 1-ranked Arizona in Tucson on Thursday.