USC Basketball vs. Oregon State: Trojans Blast Beavers At Galen Center

USC basketball moved to 21-4 on the season with a dominating 92-66 victory over Oregon State at the Galen Center on Thursday night.

The lowdown: Oregon State got things going early, knocking down their first two shots to take a 6-0 lead within the first minute of the game.

Elijah Stewart’s triple cut it to 6-5 before Bennie Boatwright dished to Chimezie Metu for an alley-oop slam. Then Jordan McLaughlin’s three-pointer gave USC their first lead of the game at 10-8.

McLaughlin’s bright start continued with a steal which led to a Jonah Matthews three ball to extend USC’s lead.

Back-to-back three pointers from Stewart gave USC a 22-15 lead as the midway point of the half neared.

The two teams traded baskets but the Trojans began to pull away, outscoring OSU 10-3 over the next five minutes to build a 38-25 lead with just under five minutes left.

Stewart’s layup with four minutes to go was the last field goal of the half for either team, as USC took a 44-27 lead into halftime.

In the second half, the Trojans maintained their advantage, growing the lead to 51-33 on a Metu layup.

Shaqquan Aaron’s three-pointer made it 54-35, but Oregon State’s Kendal Manuel responded with a triple of his own.

Stephen Thompson Jr and Aaron traded threes but the Beavers made their move on a 7-2 run capped by a Drew Eubanks dunk to draw within 11 points at 59-48.

De’Anthony Melton stemmed the bleeding with a lay up to give USC cushion, then nabbed a steal and hit a free throw after being fouled on the fastbreak.

Boatwright swished a three then acrobatically converted a lay up plus the foul shot to give USC their greatest lead at 68-48 at the eight-minute mark.

The Trojans cleared the benches for the rest of the game and ultimately won, 92-66.

The takeaway: USC has been flying high since rallying in an ultimately failed attempt to upset Arizona and they kept that momentum going on Thursday at the Galen Center.

Coming into the game, the Trojans were looking to win their fifth game in a row while Oregon State was looking for their first win in conference.

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USC needed to take care of business ahead of a pivotal match up with Oregon on the weekend and they did just that.

Aaron was hot from distance, hitting 6-of-7 three-point attempts while Boatwright was only 3-of-8 from the field, but made up for it by attacking the basket and sinking 9-of-9 free throw attempts.

USC’s Player of the game: Shaqquan Aaron; 24 points, 8/11 FGs, 6/7 3FGs, 2/2 FTs, 6 rebounds, 1 assist.

Stat of the game: USC has a five-game winning streak in conference for the first time since 2002.

Next on tap: The Trojans will attempt to get revenge on Oregon on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. at the Galen Center.