Boogie Ellis set a career high with 33 points and matched his career high with six made 3-pointers as Southern California scored its 14th consecutive win at home, defeating Stanford 85–75 on Saturday, Feb. 18, in Los Angeles.
Ellis scored all 15 of his first-half points from beyond the 3-point arc, then in the second half, got to the foul line for nine free throws. He made all nine, pacing the Trojans to a 14–for–16 night from the charity stripe.
USC (19–8, 11–5 Pac-12) started slow, falling behind 9–2 in the early going. An Ellis 3-pointer gave the Trojans the lead for good with 9:31 to go in the first half, and the advantage sat in double digits for most of the second half.
Ellis’ outstanding night also included a game-high-tying seven assists. Kobe Johnson dished another four assists to go with his seven points and seven rebounds.
Drew Peterson recorded 21 points on 8–of–14 shooting from the floor, including 3–for–5 from 3-point range, and snared seven rebounds. Reese Dixon-Waters added 12 points off the bench in his return from a recent absence due to a foot sprain.
Dixon-Waters knocked down two of his four 3-point attempts, contributing to USC’s blistering 13–of–25 shooting performance from outside. The Trojans were better behind the 3-point line than inside of it, where they finished just 16 of 34.
Stanford (11–16, 5–11) had four scorers in double figures, led by Harrison Ingram’s 15 points. Michael Jones added 14 points, and both Spencer Jones and Brandon Angel scored 11 points.
Michael O’Connell, who scored nine points, matched Ellis’ game high with seven assists.
The Cardinal shot 5–for–10 from 3-point range in the first half but cooled with 3–of–10 shooting from deep in the second. Stellar shooting from the floor by USC in the second half (53.8 percent), compared to Stanford’s 45.7-percent clip, snuffed any hope of a Cardinal comeback.
