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No. 16 USC Men's Basketball Downs Oregon With Drew Peterson's Game-Winning 3-Pointer, 70-69

by usctrojans.com
Feb 26, 2022

Drew Peterson scored 20 points — including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 11.5 seconds left in the game — to seal No. 16 USC men's basketball's 70-69 win over Oregon in Eugene, Ore., on Saturday night.

The win gave the Trojans (25-4, 14-4 Pac-12) their most wins recorded in any regular season in school history. It also gave USC a key Quadrant I victory for its NCAA Tournament resume. The Trojans survived on a historic, upset-laden day in men's college basketball that saw seven top-10 teams lose.

The Trojans remain in second place in the Pac-12 standings with two games left. They are two games behind No. 2 Arizona, which lost at Colorado on Saturday night, and face the Wildcats on Tuesday.

With USC down two points with 22 seconds left, Peterson brought the ball up the court and pulled up from the right wing of the 3-point line to give the Trojans the lead. Ethan Anderson's block on Jacob Young's layup attempt sent the ball out of bounds with 4.8 seconds remaining. Joshua Morgan contested the Ducks' final shot attempt in the paint to seal the Trojan victory.

Peterson also finished with eight rebounds. Isaiah Mobley scored 17 points — all in the second half — and grabbed nine rebounds. Boogie Ellis returned to action after missing Thursday's game with a left ankle sprain and added eight points despite dealing with foul trouble.

The Trojans avenged their 79-69 loss to the Ducks on Jan. 25 at Galen Center. Unlike the first meeting that saw Oregon routing early, USC forced 19 lead changes and seven ties throughout the game.

The first half was a tightly contested defensive battle despite USC taking a 12-point lead at the 4:57 mark. The Trojans used a 17-4 run to build that lead but Oregon immediately erased it with a 15-3 stretch to enter halftime with a one-point Duck advantage.

Both teams improved their shooting in the second half. USC's biggest lead in the final period was only six points at the 11:01 mark that was quickly wiped away by Oregon's 9-2 run. The Ducks went used a 7-2 stretch to take a three point lead with 1:47 left in the game.

Mobley and Max Agbonkpolo hit clutch shots in the paint in the final two minutes that briefly gave USC a one-point lead, but the Ducks answered with a 3-pointer with 25 secons left, setting up Peterson's ensuing game-winner.

USC returns to the Galen Center for its final home game against No. 2 Arizona, which lost to Colorado on Tuesday. The Trojans, which clinched a first-round bye in the Pac-12 Men's Basketball Tournament, conclude the regular season at rival No. 12 UCLA on March 5.

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