Taylor lifts Oregon State to 61-58 victory over USC

CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) — Glenn Taylor Jr. scored 18 points, including the go-ahead bucket in the final minute, Jordan Pope added 16 points, and Oregon State defeated USC 61-58 on Saturday.

After trailing by 11 points early in the second half, the Trojans got within one point when Vincent Iwuchukwu converted a three-point play with 4:09 remaining. USC cut its deficit to one point twice more before Iwuchukwu hit two free throws for a 58-57 lead with 1:09 to go.

Iwuchukwu blocked a layup by Taylor, but Taylor got the rebound and converted the putback for a 59-58 OSU lead with 35 seconds left. After a USC miss, the Trojans fouled Pope, who made both ends of the one-and-one for a three-point lead with 19 seconds left.

USC called timeout with six seconds left and Boogie Ellis missed a 3-pointer as time ran out.

Taylor added 10 rebounds for his third-career double-double and second this season. He and Pope scored all of Oregon State’s 10 points in the final five minutes.

Iwuchukwu had 19 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots for the Trojans and he made all nine of his free-throw attempts. He scored nine of USC’s final 11 points. Drew Peterson added 11 points.

Oregon State trailed 25-24 late in the first half before Taylor completed a three-point play, Taylor added a layup and Pope nailed a 3-pointer for a 30-25 lead at the break. Both teams shot only 31% in the first half. The second half shooting wasn’t much different, USC finishing at 32% and Oregon State at 31%.

Oregon State (10-16, 4-11 Pac-12) plays at Washington State on Thursday.

USC (17-8, 9-5) hosts Cal on Thursday.

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