Kobe Johnson scored 17 points and made five steals, including a crucial takeaway late, as USC rallied to take down Pac-12 Conference counterpart Oregon State 63–62 on Sunday, Dec. 4, in Los Angeles.
USC (6–3, 2–0 Pac-12) gave up an 11-0 run late in the first half that put it behind the visiting Beavers for much of the conference matchup.
But while holding Oregon State (4–5, 1–1) to just 8–of–27 shooting from the floor and generating nine turnovers in the second half, the Trojans chipped away at the 11-point halftime deficit until Johnson took control.
He headlined a game-changing 8–0 run with about three minutes remaining in regulation, keyed by his 3-pointer to tie the game at 53. A Reese Dixon-Waters steal led to a Johnson drive and basket to give USC the lead with 2:25 left.
Just 15 seconds later, Johnson made the last of his career-high-matching five steals—equaling the total he made against Oregon State in February—setting up a possession ending with a Drew Peterson put-back score.
Peterson finished with 10 points, dished a game-high-tying six assists and grabbed five rebounds. Joining him in double-figure scoring for the Trojans was Joshua Morgan, who finished with 15 points and blocked three shots, but shot just 5–for–10 from the free-throw line, including two misses in the closing seconds.
Morgan scored late to push the lead to five points, but Oregon State gave itself a chance to come back when Dzmitry Ryuny connected on a 3-pointer and Jordan Pope hit another, both of which came in the final nine seconds.
The Beavers sent Morgan to the line but could not get up a shot after his misses.
Dexter Akanno led Oregon State with 17 points on 5–of–9 shooting, including 3 of 5 from 3-point range. Pope shot 3 of 7 from deep and finished with 11 points. The Beavers were 10-for-22 from beyond the arc overall.
Ryuny and Rodrigue Andela each grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.
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