Boogie Ellis scored 21 points, Reese Dixon-Waters and Kobe Johnson had 15 points each, and the Southern Cal Trojans beat the Colorado Buffaloes 84–65 in Boulder, Colo., on Thursday night.
Drew Peterson added 11 points and Tre White finished with 10 for Southern Cal (20–8, 12–5 Pac-12 Conference). The Trojans have won three straight.
KJ Simpson scored 18 points and Luke O'Brien had 12 for Colorado (15–14, 7–11).
The Trojans led 18-16 midway through the first half but started to pull away. Ellis made a layup, Peterson fed Johnson for a 3-pointer and then hit a jumper to give Southern Cal a nine-point lead.
Ellis hit a 3-pointer that made it 38–23 with 4:42 left, the Buffaloes trimmed their deficit to 10 a minute later but the Trojans took a 43–30 lead into the break.
Southern Cal quickly increased the lead to start the second half. White and Johnson had dunks, Dixon-Waters hit a jumper and Ellis split a pair of free throws that gave the Trojans a 53–36 lead with 14:59 left.
Quincy Allen made a 3-pointer to stop Southern Cal’s momentum, Peterson answered with a layup to make it 55–39 when Colorado made a push to get back into the game.
Ethan Wright made a pair of 3-pointers 28 seconds apart and Lawson Lovering dunked in an 8–0 Buffaloes run that got them within eight. Ellis hit a jumper and Allen made one of two free throws to make it 57–48.
The teams traded baskets to keep it a nine-point game, but the Trojans started to extend the lead.
Dixon-Waters made a free throw, Kijani Wright tipped in an Ellis miss and Ellis then made a layup to force a Colorado timeout.
Southern Cal kept the momentum, with Dixon-Waters sinking two free throws, Johnson converting a three-point play and Peterson hitting a layup to make it 73–53.
The Buffaloes went on a 9-2 run over a span of 2:33 to cut the lead to 75–62 and had a chance to get closer but Simpson missed a layup and the Trojans closed it out.
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