This post was updated Nov. 17 at 11:41 p.m.

Ownership of the crosstown rivalry is staying in Westwood.

No. 1 UCLA men’s water polo (21-1, 5-1 MPSF) took down No. 4 USC (18-5, 2-4) on Saturday afternoon by a score of 16-9, backed by a season-best, career-high tying save total from graduate student goalkeeper Garret Griggs. A six-goal second quarter put the Bruins up by five at the half, a margin they held on to for the rest of the game.

Coach Adam Wright said the Bruins were more consistent against the Trojans – scoring at least three goals in each quarter – than in their last contest nearly two weeks prior.

“We were more consistent today, for sure,” Wright said. “But there’s spaces in there where we have to score from the post. In the second quarter, in the third quarter, we have four wide-open opportunities. That can change everything.”

Freshman attacker Ryder Dodd buried five goals on the day, including a first-half hat trick – his 14th of the season.

Dodd credited his teammates for the opportunities he’s gotten this season.

“I see him every single day in practice, and I’m pretty blown away by him. He’s pretty spectacular – his work ethic, his defense, shooting, not even just the shooting, everything else about him,” Griggs said. “He’s a spectacular player.”

Just before the end of the first half, the Bruins drew a 7-on-6 opportunity, and they capitalized.

Griggs slotted forward into the attack, and with just one second left on the clock, graduate student attacker Makoto Kenney drilled the ball into the back of the net.

“The first half was pretty good for us,” Dodd said. “Everything was clicking. I think our long week of practice kind of helped us perform in the game. I think we had a consistent week, and from then, we just had a consistent game, which was good.”

Griggs said amid UCLA’s big lead, the message from Wright at halftime was about staying present and focused.

And in the third quarter, the Bruins grew their lead by two more goals.

Dodd added that the Bruins were able to physically wear down the Trojans, and they took advantage of that.

“Our condition is just at a really high level right now,” Dodd said. “We’re able to just go through multiple lines of people. We have 12 guys that can really play, and I think it’s just really good for us to be able to go a whole game at 100%.”

Griggs did not play two weeks ago against then-No. 2 Stanford after allowing 13 goals against then-No. 7 California in the previous game.

Dodd said he thought Griggs was motivated by missing that match.

Wright pulled Griggs after the graduate student recorded six saves in the fourth quarter, but Wright said he wouldn’t have pulled his starting goalkeeper if he had realized the career mark he was on.

“He was great. He had an opportunity to bounce back,” Wright said. “His energy in the goal and him saving us was great.”

Griggs had previously recorded his career-high 15 saves in a 20-12 win over Pacific in 2023.

The Bruins allowed three goals on five exclusions committed, giving the Trojans a 60% power play conversion rate compared to the Bruins’ 30%.

“That was one thing I thought we could have worked on. We try to really focus on our five-man, because I think it’s really important in the game of water polo,” Griggs said. “Couple things we can work on there, but some good things as well.”

The Bruins will next play in the MPSF tournament, hosted in Westwood.

For Senior Day, the Bruins celebrated their graduating class, consisting of graduate students, redshirt juniors and more.

“We have guys that are back for their sixth year and guys that put in a lot of time here, and most of them have won,” Wright said. “They put this program in a position to get experience for all these guys that are younger, and that means so much.”