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Updated February 16th, 2020 at 12:19 IST

Utomi lifts USC to 70-51 victory over Washington State

CJ Elleby scored 22 points with 13 rebounds for the Cougars (14-12, 5-8), who lost for the third time in their past four games while losing both games in the Los Angeles area after they fell to UCLA in overtime on Thursday. It was Elleby’s 10th career double-double.

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Daniel Utomi scored a season-high 23 points and the Southern California defense did the rest in a 70-51 victory Saturday night over Washington State.Ethan Anderson scored 12 points while Isaiah Mobley had nine points and 11 rebounds as the Trojans (19-7, 8-5 Pac-12) earned a home sweep of the Washington schools after a victory over Washington on Thursday.

CJ Elleby scored 22 points with 13 rebounds for the Cougars (14-12, 5-8), who lost for the third time in their past four games while losing both games in the Los Angeles area after they fell to UCLA in overtime on Thursday. It was Elleby’s 10th career double-double.

Utomi reached the 20-point mark for the second time this season, with both coming in the past four games. It was the lowest scoring game for a USC opponent in Pac-12 play this season.USC was playing without leading scorer and rebounder Onyeka Okongwu, who has missed the past two games because of a concussion that reportedly occurred last Saturday at Arizona State.

The Trojans were working their way through injuries on the court as well as Anderson returned after a knee contusion in Thursday’s game and Mobley stayed in the game after tweaking his right ankle just past the midway point of the first half.

The Trojans gave up the first eight points of the game, but still held a 30-21 lead at halftime by holding Washington State to 27% shooting from the field.The Cougars went on a 12-2 run to cut the deficit to 46-36 midway through the second half, but USC answered with an 11-0 run of their own to build the lead back to 57-36 with 6:27 remaining.

Utomi passed his previous season high of 22 points on a 3-pointer with 4:18 remaining, holding his follow-through high in the air while giving a nod to the Trojans’ bench as he skipped back down the court. The 3-pointer gave USC a commanding 63-39 lead.Noah Williams scored 10 points as Washington State fell to 0-6 in conference road games.

BIG PICTURE

Washington State: Elleby is now 42 points shy of 1,000 for his career and was on pace to becoming the third fastest to 1,000 before the start of play Saturday.Washington State not only shot 29% percent from the field Saturday, they shot 28% in the first meeting, a 65-56 defeat to the Trojans at home on Jan. 2.

USC: The Trojans were not only without Okongwu, they also were without guard Kyle Sturdivant for the second consecutive game after the death of his father last week.Coach Andy Enfield now has 129 victories with the Trojans, three shy of Henry Bibby who is fourth on the school’s all-time list. Sam Berry’s 260 victories are the most in school history.

(Image Credit: AP)

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Published February 16th, 2020 at 12:19 IST

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