Colorado Buffaloes vs Southern California Trojans Box Score on Dec 31, 2020

McKinley Wright scored 17 points, D'Shawn Schwartz had 13 points and 10 rebounds, and the Colorado Buffaloes beat the Southern California Trojans 72-62 in Los Angeles on Thursday night.

Evan Battey added 11 points and Jeriah Horne added 10 for the Buffaloes (7-2, 1-1 Pac-12 Conference).

Tahj Eaddy scored 16 points and Evan Mobley had 12 points and seven rebounds for USC.

Wright's availability was in question because of an ankle injury, but he looked fine in scoring 11 of his points in the first half when the Buffaloes grabbed the lead for good.

The Trojans, who beat Santa Clara on Tuesday after not playing for three weeks due to coronavirus issues, led by one early, but after that Colorado took over for much of the game.

Schwartz gave the Buffaloes the lead for good with a 3-pointer, and they slowly built the lead to double figures when Wright split a pair of free throws to make it 32-21.

The Trojans (5-2, 0-1) responded with a run of their own. Max Agbonkpolo hit a 3-pointer, Chevez Goodwin converted a three-point play and USC added consecutive layups to cut the lead to 32-31. Colorado answered with a run of its own to end the first half.

Schwartz scored four straight points, Jabari Walker made a jumper, Wright hit a 3-pointer and Horne drained one from long range with a second left to restore the 11-point lead, 44-33, at halftime.

The Buffaloes scored the first two baskets of the second half to finish the 16-2 run and extend the lead to 48-33, forcing USC to call a timeout.

The Trojans made a run when Wright picked up his third foul with 10:39 left and Colorado leading 57-46.

In less than a minute, Noah Baumann and Eaddy drained 3-pointers and Goodwin hit two free throws to cut the deficit to 57-55, but USC went nearly nine minutes with just one 3-pointer, and the Buffaloes built the lead back up.

It was 59-55 when Wright came back into the game, and he hit two jumpers and Battey had a three-point play that put Colorado ahead 68-58 with 1:38 remaining.

--Field Level Media