USC sweeps UCLA for first time since 2010

Aaron Holiday scored a team-leading 15 points as the UCLA basketball team dropped an 80-61 decision before a capacity crowd of 10,258 at the Galen Center on Thursday night.

UCLA, one of three Pac-12 teams among the top 10 national postseason seeds as of February 1, according to the NCAA selection committee, is an elite team with a 20-point home win over Oregon State (then without Sydney Wiese) on January 4.

UCLA (13-10, 4-6) is mired in the bottom half of the conference, having only recently figured out that its two-center frontcourt of Tony Parker and Thomas Welsh was too much of a defensive liability. The Bruins shot a paltry 34.8 percent from the field, setting a new low for the season.

Aside from the last five minutes, UCLA was within 10 points and could have made it a contest, unfortunately, their shots, just like their game, were completely off.

Earlier in the second, the Bruins cut their deficit to 48-39 after Parker scored six straight points.

“Obviously, things snowballed on us”, coach Charli Turner Thorne said.

The Trojans once again had their way from 3-point range and from the free-throw line, just as they did in their first matchup against the Bruins. “We feel for them”, Alford said.

“Our goal was to try to make it challenging for them because we know how good they are”, USC coach Andy Enfield said. USC immediately responded with a 3-pointer from Elijah Stewart, pushing the Trojans’ lead back to nine points (65-56). The keys for the Bruins were forcing turnovers (18 for the Cougars) and converting from the stripe, where UCLA hit 85.7 percent on the night (24-of-28). Forget about the fact that the Bruins just lost a season series to the Trojans for the first time since the 2009-10 season. The Trojans and Bruins will renew their crosstown rivalry for the 244th time on Thursday, as UCLA holds a 138-105 all-time edge. The Galen Center erupted, louder than it’s been in half a decade. McLaughlin had a rough first half, going scoreless, but finished with a team high 10 assists to go with 9 second-half points. Former USC football player A.C. Cowlings, who famously drove O.J. Simpson in the slow-speed white Bronco chase, was on his feet cheering his alma mater’s game-opening 9-0 run.

The loss opened the Bruins’ three-game road trip.

UCLA beat both of the Arizona schools at home last month before its first defeat to USC.

Limited practice makes it all the more imperative for the Sun Devils (18-4, 9-1 Pac-12) to improve the areas which Turner Thorne emphasized.