Story by Nick Hamilton
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| USC's #20 J.T. Terrell. Photo by William Johnson/T.G.Sports. |
After a touching moment of silence for Lakers owner and Trojan alum Dr. Jerry
Buss, the UCLA Bruins looked to
avenge their Jan 30th overtime loss to their crosstown rivals known as the USC Trojans. The Bruins vindicated
themselves and kept their school pride, as they destroyed the Trojans 75-59 on
Sunday at Galen Center.
Even after the eight day layoff, the
Bruins showed no signs of rust, as the propelled themselves to a quick 7-0 lead
before the Trojans would call for time, and try to regroup.
The Trojans made poor choice with their
shot selection, as they missed their first nine of eleven shots, while the
Bruins made 80% of their shots on their way to a huge 47-26 halftime lead. The
Bruins shot an amazing 58% from the field despite not having Travis Wear in the
line up due to a severe foot injury.
In the second half the Trojans seems to
try to muster up some fire as they opened up the half with a 7-0 run of their
own. Bruins Tony Parker who a big force in the middle against Dewayne Dedmon,
who played seventeen minutes, had eight points and three rebounds.
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| UCLA's#12 David Wear monster dunk during the game. Photo by William Johnson. |
Fighting for a loose ball, Norman Powell
got tangled up with Omar Oraby, and the two had to be quickly separated by
teammates. The result was a double technical foul on both players
The Trojans fought back tremendously and
brought down the deficit to 11, but it was simply not enough. At about the eight
minute mark of the game, things continue to remain chippy as Byron Wesley was
called for a flagrant foul on Shabazz Muhammad.
The Bruins would finish just half a game
out of first for the Pac-12 title with the victory. The Trojans would fall to
7-7 in the Pac-12 and 12-15 overall with the loss. in seventh place the Trojans
will face Arizona on Wednesday and Arizona State on Saturday for their final
meeting before the Pac-12 tournament.
Trojans Jio Fontan who fouled out
finished with just 4 points, as J.T. Terrell who was lighting in a bottle for
the Men of Troy finished with 17 points.
The Bruins finished with five players in
double figures, as Jordan Adams led the way with 20 points, and David Wear
finished with another double-double 10 points, 11 rebounds.
Coach Ben Howland was pleased with his
team's effort especially in the second half. "In the first half we played
tremendous. Really proud of Tony Parker's play, thought that was huge today. I
love looking and seeing five guys in double figures." Howland went on to say,
"When we've had that type of balance, that's when we've been our best team."
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| USC's #55 Omar Oraby. Photo by William Johnson/T.G.Sports. |
"We got
down 7-0 right out of the gate and from that point it was tough to battle out of
that," said USC coach Bob Cantu on UCLA setting an early tone.
UCLA guard
Kyle Anderson also spoke about the chippyness of the game, "Larry Drew just did
a great job of holding us all together. He made sure nobody did anything stupid
or retaliated.... Thank God we have great leaders."
"We always
want to be USC!" said Jordan Adams. "We're not
really a catch-up team. We wanted to come out and throw the first punch against
our rival."
USC's Dewayne Dedmon who loves to get up
and down the court, was not a huge factor against the Bruins as he finished with
only four points.
The Bruins who behind Oregon and Arizona
as they race for first in Pac-12, will face Arizona State on Wednesday, follow
by a huge Pac-12 showdown with top seed Arizona on Saturday evening. For more photos from this game go to www.tgsportstv.com, click on Photo Gallery 2 and scroll down UCLA @ USC. All photos are by William Johnson/T.G.Sports.
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