Utah Utes vs Southern California Trojans Box Score on Jan 02, 2021

Tahj Eaddy scored 18 points and Isaiah White added 12 to lead Southern California to a 64-46 Pac-12 Conference victory over Utah on Saturday at Los Angeles.

Drew Peterson tallied 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Trojans. USC (6-2, 1-1 Pac-12) turned to stifling defense to break open a close game after halftime. The Trojans blocked nine shots and held the Utes to 27.9 percent shooting from the field.

Ian Martinez scored 10 points to lead Utah. Timmy Allen had eight rebounds but finished with only five points after shooting just 2 of 14 from the field. As a team, the Utes shot 4 of 30 (.133) from the field in the second half en route to their 12th straight road loss in Pac-12 play.

It offset a solid defensive performance for Utah. The Utes (4-3, 1-2) forced 15 turnovers and held Evan Mobley to just three points.

The Trojans started the game fast, making four straight shots and 7 of 9 to fuel a 20-4 early lead. White was responsible for three of those baskets and Eaddy chipped in a pair. Their efforts helped USC stake out a 22-6 lead near the midway point of the first half.

Utah clamped down on defense as the half progressed and chipped away at the double-digit deficit. The Utes forced nine turnovers over an eight-minute stretch to spark a 17-2 run. Mikael Jantunen fueled the lengthy spurt with three baskets and Alfonso Plummer's layup punctuated the run and cut USC's lead to 24-23.

Utah took its first lead of the game when Allen scored a layup to put the Utes up 27-26 with 3:16 remaining before halftime.

Offensive struggles returned for Utah after halftime. The Utes missed 19-of-20 shots across a 13-minute stretch in the second half. Utah endured strings of nine-and 10-consecutive missed field goal attempts.

USC capitalized on the drought. The Trojans eventually rebuilt a double-digit lead, going up 55-41 on four straight baskets from Eaddy, Chevez Goodwin and Noah Baumann.

--Field Level Media