Donovan Dent finished with 25 points and seven assists, Eric Dailey Jr. added 19 points and eight rebounds, and UCLA cruised to an 89-68 rout of hosting and crosstown Los Angeles rival Southern California on Saturday.
The Bruins (21-10, 13-7 Big Ten Conference) broke a 21-21 tie midway through the first half with an 18-3 surge that gave them a double-digit-point advantage the rest of the game. UCLA dominated in nearly all phases, including posting a 34-22 advantage for points in the paint and outshooting the Trojans from 3-point range, 9 of 17 (53%) to 7 of 24 (29%).
Six Bruins connected on at least one 3-point attempt, including Eric Freeny, who went 2-of-3 from deep off the bench. Freeny also grabbed five rebounds to go with his career-high 10 points, He was one of four UCLA scorers to reach double figures.
Dent’s 25 gave him 55 in the Bruins’ two wins over USC on the season, and Dailey eclipsed 1,000 career points during his 19-point night. Tyler Bilodeau rounded out the quartet with 16 points and matched Dailey’s team high of eight rebounds.
Ezra Ausar grabbed 11 boards to go with his 12 points for the Trojans (18-13, 7-13), but it was not enough to offset UCLA’s 37-26 advantage on the glass.
Alijah Arenas finished with 20 points for USC, Jacob Cofie added 10, and Kam Woods had 11 assists in the Trojans’ seventh consecutive loss.
After falling behind by 17 early into the second half, USC showed signs of life with a run to pull to within 11 when Woods found Arenas for a basket at the 15:35 mark.
The 11-point deficit was as close as the home team came for the rest of the way, however. The revelers who made the short trip on a fleet of buses sent from UCLA’s campus to USC’s Galen Center overtook the Trojans crowd as the Bruins grew the gap to as many as 25 points.
