UCLA men’s basketball trails USC 50-38 at halftime
Sophomore guard Aaron Holiday was responsible for three of the Bruins 13 turnovers in the first half. The sloppy play contributed to USC’s 50-38 lead at the break. (Michael Zshornack/Assistant Photo editor)
By Matt Cummings
Jan. 25, 2017 9:03 p.m.
No. 8 UCLA men’s basketball started fast on its rival’s home court, but USC roared back to head into halftime with a 50-38 lead Wednesday night.
The Bruins opened the game on an 8-0 run and pushed their lead to as many as 10 points, but the Trojans started to dominate the action after switching to a zone defense partway through the period and closed the half on a 40-18 run.
UCLA looked flustered against USC’s 3-2 zone.
The Bruins, who average under 12 turnovers per game, uncharacteristically gave the ball away 13 times in the half. Freshman point guard Lonzo Ball was responsible for five of those, and sophomore guard Aaron Holiday had three.
USC took advantage, scoring 14 of its 50 points off turnovers.
Shaqquan Aaron led the Trojans in scoring with 14 points in 13 minutes of action. For the Bruins, junior center Thomas Welsh led the offense with 13 points on a perfect 6-for-6 shooting performance. Holiday added 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting.
