Men’s basketball takes 41-38 lead over USC at half after slow start
Sophomore guard Kris Wilkes led all scorers with 12 points in the first half of UCLA men’s basketball’s matchup with USC on Thursday night. Wilkes shot 3-of-4 from beyond the arc and 4-of-8 overall. (Michael Zshornack/Daily Bruin senior staff)
By Ryan Smith
Feb. 28, 2019 7:05 p.m.
The Trojans were getting whatever they wanted early on, but the Bruins responded.
After falling behind by 10 in the opening five minutes, UCLA men’s basketball (15-13, 8-7 Pac-12) came back to take a 41-38 lead over USC (15-13, 8-7) by the half.
The Bruins missed eight of their first 10 shots from the floor to begin the night, helping the Trojans build up an early 16-6 lead. UCLA then rattled off a 12-0 run of its own behind eight points from sophomore guard Kris Wilkes to take the lead.
Wilkes led all scorers in the first half with 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting to go along with five rebounds.
With about seven minutes left in the half, the Bruins extended their lead to as much as six after back-to-back transition 3s from freshman guard David Singleton. The advantage was short-lived, though, as the Trojans responded with a 9-0 run out of a timeout.
Forward Bennie Boatwright led the way for USC in the first 20 minutes, stuffing the stat sheet with 10 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Boatwright poured in 21 points in the two schools’ previous meeting back on Jan. 19.
UCLA, however, closed the back-and-forth half by scoring nine of the final 12 points with the help of back-to-back buckets from freshman guard Jules Bernard.
The winner of Thursday night’s game will take a one-game lead over the other in the Pac-12 standings and keep its hopes of a first-round bye in the conference tournament alive.
