Justin Hohn scored 25 points, Bent Leuchten added 19 points, and visiting UC Irvine knocked off No. 16-ranked Southern California, 70-60, Tuesday in Los Angeles.
The Anteaters (2-1) shot 5-of-9 from 3-point range in the second half, the last of which came from Devin Tillis with 37 seconds remaining. Tillis’ basket doubled UC Irvine’s lead and effectively put USC away.
The Trojans (2-1), playing without senior point guard Boogie Ellis, committed 16 turnovers and combined for just seven assists as a team. USC struggled to find a rhythm offensively and shot just 17 of 59 from the floor, including 4-for-21 from 3-point range.
Isaiah Collier led the Trojans with 23 points, but committed seven turnovers and dished only one assist running the point in Ellis’ absence. Ellis was a late scratch with an ankle injury, joining Kobe Johnson on the sideline.
Tuesday was Johnson’s second consecutive absence for an undisclosed reason.
Harrison Hornery, the only other USC scorer in double-figures, scored 17 points. Hornery was responsible for every made Trojans 3-point attempt, going 4-for-9 – one of which came on a four-point play as USC attempted to battle back from a 10-point deficit down the stretch.
The Anteaters pulled ahead 57-47 with 6:42 remaining on a Hohn 3-pointer, but the Trojans pulled to within a point with less than three minutes remaining. USC did not score again, giving up a game-ending, 9-0 run.
UC Irvine, which shot 14 of 17 from the free-throw line for the night, hit all four of their foul shots in the final minute.
Tillis finished with eight points and matched a game-high of 10 rebounds for the Anteaters. Pierre Crockrell II added another eight points. USC’s Joshua Morgan grabbed 10 rebounds, scored eight points and blocked two shots.
The win was just the second for UC Irvine against a Pac-12 Conference opponent in its last 17 tries.
–Field Level Media