Boogie Ellis scored 16 points as Southern California continued to help its NCAA Tournament at-large prospects, stretching its winning streak to four games with a 62–49 victory Saturday, Feb. 25, over host Utah at Salt Lake City.
Drew Peterson added 14 points, seven rebounds and eight assists as the Trojans (21–8, 13–5 Pac-12) earned a road sweep of the Rocky Mountain schools after a victory at Colorado on Thursday.
USC went 4–0 against Utah and Colorado this season.
Marco Anthony scored 11 points for the Utes (17–13, 10–9), who lost their fourth consecutive game to all but end their at-large hopes. Utah leading scorer Branden Carlson (16.3 points per game) was held to 10 points on 4–of–17 shooting from the field, with 10 rebounds.
Utah was playing without starting guards Rollie Worster and Gabe Madsen, with second-leading scorer Madsen (11.7 points per game) missing his seventh consecutive game. The Utes were playing their final home game of the season.
USC twice led by double digits in the first half, going up 19–9 midway through the first half and taking a 28–18 lead 5:27 before halftime. The Trojans led 34–28 at the break as Carlson scored just four points on 2–of–10 shooting in the opening 20 minutes.
Utah pulled within 43-41 with 11:59 remaining in the game before USC grinded its way to the victory. After Utah’s Keba Keita made a layup with 6:57 remaining to pull Utah within 52–46, the Utes scored just three points the rest of the way and didn’t score in the final 5:51.
Kobe Johnson scored 12 points for USC, which finished off the victory despite getting out-rebounded 42–36.
Neither team shot 40 percent from the field in the first half, with the Trojans finishing at 42.0 percent for the game. The Utes finished at 31.7 percent.
Utah has just one more regular-season game remaining, at Colorado next weekend. USC can further pad its tournament resume with home games next week against No. 7 Arizona and Arizona State.
