UC Santa Barbara Gauchos vs Southern California Trojans Box Score on Dec 17, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Dec 17, 2017

Jordan McLaughlin broke his own single-game assists record, and all five USC starters scored in double figures in a 98-87 win over UC Santa Barbara Sunday at Galen Center.

McLaughlin's 19 assists surpassed the program record 16 he dished against Lafayette last season, and tied a Pac-12 Conference record.

The senior point guard's effective ball distribution, a second consecutive double-double from forward Nick Rakocevic of 12 points and 12 rebounds, and a career-high 31 points out of forward Chimezie Metu picked up the offensive slack on a night USC played without forward Bennie Boatwright. Boatwright was sidelined with a foot injury.

The Trojans (6-3) led by just seven points with 5:48 remaining in the first half, but erupted for a 16-4 run in the final 3:28 before halftime. Rakocevic started the run with a lay-in, and capped it with a baseline, fadeaway jumper at the buzzer.

USC's lead reached 25 points in the second half, but the Gauchos whittled the deficit down to 10 with 7:11 remaining.

UC Santa Barbara (8-3) made its surge with effective 3-point shooting and balanced offense. Each of the Gauchos five starters scored at least nine points, paced by guards Max Heidegger and Gabe Vincent with 17 points apiece. Forward Leland King II added 15 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

Once UC Santa Barbara cut it to 10, USC responded with six quick points, punctuated with McLaughlin's alley-oop find of Metu for a dunk. Those six points started a longer, 19-9 run to effectively put the game away.