Johnson punctuates USC comeback as Trojans down Oregon State

Sun, Dec 4, 2022
NCAAB News (AP)

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Kobe Johnson scored 17 points shooting 7 for 10 and USC's methodical second-half comeback led to a 63-62 win on Sunday night over Oregon State.

Dzmitry Ryuny's 3-pointer early in the second half gave the Beavers their last double-digit lead of the night at 37-27. The Trojans (6-3, 2-0 Pac-12) then started their persistent climb back when down 53-50 with less than three minutes to go, Johnson made a layup and a 3 in a 17-second stretch and USC held on.

Jordan Pope's 3 with three seconds left brought Oregon State (4-5, 1-1) to 63-62. Dexter Akanno fouled the Trojans' Jordan Morgan who missed both foul shots but Oregon State failed to get off a shot.

Johnson's 5-0 outburst marked USC's first lead since Morgan's jumper with 7:19 before intermission put the Trojans up 14-13.

Backup Glenn Taylor Jr's. 3 with 6:24 before halftime broke a 15-all tie and started an 11-0 run for Oregon State over the next minute-and-a-half. The Beavers went to halftime shooting 14 for 25 including making half of all 12 3 attempts. USC was 1 for 6 from beyond the arc before intermission.

Morgan scored 15 points and Drew Peterson 10 for USC. Morgan entered second in the country with 29-blocked shots and smacked three more against Oregon State. The Trojans didn't help themselves offensively going 4 for 16 from 3-point range and 13 for 21 from the foul line.

Akanno scored 17 points for Oregon State, Pope 11 and Taylor 11.

USC has won 11 of its last 14 games against the Beavers. USC leads the all-time series 78-66 (USC vacated two wins due to NCAA penalty).

___

More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25