Pac 12 Basketball: Trojans steal one in Boulder

By Stuart Gill | Jan 17, 2017

Mar 17, 2016; Des Moines, IA, USA; Colorado Buffaloes guard Dominique Collier (15) reacts on the bench during the second half against the Connecticut Huskies in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports /

Colorado remains winless in the Pac 12 basketball play after a heartbreaking loss to the USC Trojans.

The USC Trojans defeated the Colorado Buffaloes, 71-68, in a Pac-12 showdown on Sunday.

Chimezie Metu led USC in what was a close game from the opening tip to the final seconds. The sophomore is seeing a 33 percent rise in playing time compared to his freshman campaign, and his enhanced scoring ability is the reason why.

Against Colorado, he finished with 24 points to go along with six rebounds in 32 minutes of action. With 12 games left to play this season, he has already surpassed last year’s point total by 50, and has become USC’s most reliable weapon.

De’Anthony Melton also turned in a solid performance despite some pretty significant shooting woes. He would sink just 3-of-13 attempts to total six points in the game, but added six assists and nine rebounds (four of which were on the offensive end of the floor) to help USC get the win.

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Colorado was led by George King, who totaled 16 points and nine rebounds on the evening. Derrick White also chipped in 10 points, five boards and five assists. But it was the play of Xavier Johnson that gave Colorado life down the stretch. The senior grabbed seven rebounds, while shooting 60 percent from the floor.

Johnson gave the Buffs a one-point lead by sinking back-to-back triples with under two minutes to go. From there, a Metu jumper and two Elijah Stewart free-throws would give USC a 3-point advantage with just seconds left.

Colorado was then unable to hit a prayer shot to force overtime, officially dropping them to 0-5 in the Pac-12. They are averaging under 75 points per game, which indicates how heavily outmatched they are in a conference with teams such as Arizona, UCLA and Oregon. They will look to begin to dig themselves out of the 0-5 hole with a road trip to Washington to take on the Huskies and the Cougars of Washington State.

Next: Five reasons Purdue can win it all

USC improves to 3-3 in conference play with the win, and will prepare to face No. 14 Arizona at home on January 19th. With two games apiece coming up against Arizona, Washington, and UCLA, the rest of their schedule is packed with exciting games. They will need to play their best basketball of the year beginning now if they want to have a shot at contending for a Pac-12 title and NCAA Tournament birth.

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