The UCLA Basketball team was able to hold off the USC Trojans in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 tournament with a 76-74 victory.
It was known that USC was going to come at the UCLA Basketball team with everything they had, considering that they are “on the bubble” when it comes to making the NCAA tournament.
USC came out swinging and landed several blows, but the Bruins were just too much for the Trojans. Again.
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The Bruins had control of the game at the start of both halves. UCLA went on some productive runs to start the first and second, which made it look as though they would blow USC out of the water, but the pesky Trojans, with a fire underneath them, would not go down quietly.
UCLA, at most, had a 14-point lead in this game. USC was able to whittle that down to one point in early in the second half.
Coming out of halftime down 38-35, USC made the first basket of the second half, getting to within one.
Fortunately for UCLA, no matter what onslaught USC brought, the Bruins were able to hold them off. The Bruins went on a 9-0 run after that initial second half Trojans basket and pushed the lead. But this was not over.
USC continued to put it to UCLA with an array of shots. Four Trojans scored in double-digits, led by Jordan McLaughlin with 18, but it just was not enough.
UCLA was UCLA and they fought back against everything their crosstown rivals threw at them. Isaac Hamilton was the big baller in this game with 22 points which was fueled by 4/9 3-point shooting.
Next: The 5 Most Memorable UCLA Basketball Pac-12 Tournament Games in the Alford Era
It was sloppy at times, but it is a win. One that tested the Bruins, but should have them ready for their semifinal game against Arizona on Friday night.