King, White help Oregon snap skid, beat USC 81-60

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) – Paul White and Louis King each scored 19 points as Oregon raced past Southern California 81-60 on Sunday night.

Will Richardson had 11 points and Victor Bailey Jr. 10 for the Ducks (10-6, 1-2 Pac-12), the preseason conference favorite, who were coming off an 87-84 overtime loss to UCLA after leading by nine in the final minute.

This time Oregon took a more deliberate approach by working the shot clock, crashing the boards and hitting 13 of 24 from 3-point range. The Ducks never trailed and led by as many as 26 points in the second half.

Oregon had a 35-24 rebounding edge, led by King’s eight, and had 17 second-chance points

Jonah Mathews led the Trojans (9-8, 2-2) with 15 points. Bennie Boatwright had 13 and Nick Rakocevic 11.

King and White carried the Ducks to a 36-28 halftime lead with 14 points each. Oregon consistently ran the shot clock down to single digits on nearly every possession didn’t have a fast-break point in the first 20 minutes, cashing in mostly on offensive rebounds and six 3-pointers.

After missing 10 of their first 13 shots, the Trojans closed the half with seven consecutive points after trailing by 15. Boatwright and Mathews had 10 points apiece at the break.

USC played without freshman Kevin Porter Jr. after the 6-foot-6 freshman from Seattle was suspended by coach Andy Enfield for “personal conduct issues,” according to a USC pregame tweet. Porter had played in seven games with three starts.

BIG PICTURE

USC seemed to show the effects of its overtime loss to Oregon State on Thursday night with a lethargic start and never recovered. The Trojans now have six days to prepare for their first showdown with UCLA.

Oregon put together what may have been its best performance of the season to avoid dropping its opening three conference games since coach Dana Altman’s first season in Eugene. King again led the Ducks in scoring and just missed his third double-double to begin Pac-12 play.

UP NEXT

USC: Hosts UCLA on Saturday.

Oregon: At Arizona on Thursday night.