USC’s poor shooting leads to blowout loss to Oregon

N’Faly Dante scored 17 points, Will Richardson added 16 and Oregon posted a wire-to-wire 78-60 victory over USC on Thursday night.

Dante sank eight of 11 shots from the floor for the Ducks (15-10, 9-5 Pac-12). He added five rebounds, three blocks and three steals. Richardson made four of six shots with two three-pointers and hit all six of his free throws. Jermaine Couisnard had 13 points and Nate Bittle contributed 11 points and six rebounds.

Boogie Ellis led the Trojans (17-7, 9-4) with 19 points and four assists. Drew Peterson and Kobe Johnson added 11 points apiece. USC had a four-game win streak end.

Couisnard scored 11 points and N’Faly added nine to guide the Ducks to a 42-27 lead at halftime. Peterson hit a three-pointer seven minutes into the game to pull the Trojans within 11-10. It was all Ducks after that.

Dante answered with a three-point play, igniting an 18-1 run and Oregon led 29-11 with 12 minutes left in the half. Kel’el Ware had back-to-back dunks in the run, the second leading to a three-point play.

USC got no closer than 14 points in the second half. The Ducks pushed their lead to 20 on three occasions.

Oregon shot 54% overall but made just six of 18 from beyond the arc. USC shot 41% and made only four of 16 from distance. The Trojans finished with 12 turnovers to Oregon’s 11, but the Ducks had a 17-3 edge in points off turnovers.

The Trojans lead the series 69-60, but the Ducks are 16-7 under current coach Dana Altman.