Boogie Ellis scored 21 points, Reese Dixon-Waters and Kobe Johnson had 15 points each, and the Southern Cal Trojans beat the Colorado Buffaloes 84-65 in Boulder, Colo., on Thursday night.
Drew Peterson added 11 points and Tre White finished with 10 for Southern Cal (20-8, 12-5 Pac-12 Conference). The Trojans have won three straight.
KJ Simpson scored 18 points and Luke O’Brien had 12 for Colorado (15-14, 7-11).
The Trojans led 18-16 midway through the first half but started to pull away. Ellis made a layup, Peterson fed Johnson for a 3-pointer and then hit a jumper to give Southern Cal a nine-point lead.
Ellis hit a 3-pointer that made it 38-23 with 4:42 left, the Buffaloes trimmed their deficit to 10 a minute later but the Trojans took a 43-30 lead into the break.
Southern Cal quickly increased the lead to start the second half. White and Johnson had dunks, Dixon-Waters hit a jumper and Ellis split a pair of free throws that gave the Trojans a 53-36 lead with 14:59 left.
Quincy Allen made a 3-pointer to stop Southern Cal’s momentum, Peterson answered with a layup to make it 55-39 when Colorado made a push to get back into the game.
Ethan Wright made a pair of 3-pointers 28 seconds apart and Lawson Lovering dunked in an 8-0 Buffaloes run that got them within eight. Ellis hit a jumper and Allen made one of two free throws to make it 57-48.
The teams traded baskets to keep it a nine-point game, but the Trojans started to extend the lead.
Dixon-Waters made a free throw, Kijani Wright tipped in an Ellis miss and Ellis then made a layup to force a Colorado timeout.
Southern Cal kept the momentum, with Dixon-Waters sinking two free throws, Johnson converting a three-point play and Peterson hitting a layup to make it 73-53.
The Buffaloes went on a 9-2 run over a span of 2:33 to cut the lead to 75-62 and had a chance to get closer but Simpson missed a layup and the Trojans closed it out.
–Field Level Media
