National Basketball Association
Utah 79, Southern California 55
When: 10:00 PM ET, Friday, January 2, 2015
Where: Jon M. Huntsman Center, Salt Lake City, Utah
Officials:
# Eric Curry, # David Hall, # Mark Whitehead
Attendance:
14140
By SportsDirect Inc.
No. 12 Utah 79, USC 55: Jordan Loveridge scored 14
points as the Utes overwhelmed the visiting Trojans in the Pac-12 opener for
both teams.
Delon Wright added 11 points and matched his
season high with 10 assists for Utah (11-2), which improved to 9-0
at home in giving coach Larry Krystkowiak his largest margin of victory in a
Pac-12 game. The Utes – who also received 11 points from Brandon Taylor, 10
from Dakarai Tucker and nine rebounds from Chris Reyes – shot 56.9 percent from
the field, including 11-of-19 from 3-point range.
Nikola Jovanovic and Malik Martin had 14 points
and six rebounds apiece to pace USC (8-5), which lost its sixth straight Pac-12
road opener. Julian Jacobs added 10 points off the bench for the Trojans, who
shot 38.5 percent from the field and were outscored by 24 points from beyond
the arc and 10-2 at the free-throw line.
USC held a 7-6 advantage a little more than four
minutes into the game, but Loveridge's 3-pointer ignited a 15-2 Utah run over
the ensuing six minutes, giving the Utes a 21-9 lead. Utah expanded its
advantage to 39-22 at the break, shooting 57.7 percent from the field,
including 5-of-9 outside the 3-point arc, in the opening 20 minutes.
The Utes outscored the Trojans 9-4 in the opening
3:15 of the second half, and after the visitors cut the lead to 15, stretched
the advantage to 65-42 with 8:26 remaining. USC was only
able to get as close as 18 points the rest of the way.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Utah has won four straight and
10 of its last 11 games, losing only to No. 14 Kansas 63-60 in
Kansas City, Mo., on Dec. 13. … Loveridge made his first start since Nov. 26
and has scored 28 points on 10-of-14 shooting while grabbing nine rebounds and dishing
out three assists in the last two contests since coming back from a seven-game
knee-injury absence. … USC was without reserve G Chass Bryan, who stayed back
in Los Angeles while recovering from an illness.
Top Game Performances
Southern California |
|
Utah |
Nikola Jovanovic 14 |
Scoring |
Jordan Loveridge 14 |
Julian Jacobs 4 |
Assists |
Delon Wright 10 |
Nikola Jovanovic 6 |
Rebounds |
Chris Reyes 9 |
Nikola Jovanovic 2 |
Free Throws Made |
Dallin Bachynski 3 |
Julian Jacobs 1 |
Steals |
Dallin Bachynski 2 |
Elijah Stewart 2 |
Blocks |
Dallin Bachynski 2 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Southern California
|
55 |
38.5 |
3-13 |
2-5 |
11 |
29 |
3 |
6 |
9 |
Utah
|
79 |
56.9 |
11-19 |
10-20 |
19 |
35 |
6 |
6 |
11 |