National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Utah 79, Southern California 55
When: 10:00 PM ET, Friday, January 2, 2015
Where: Jon M. Huntsman Center, Salt Lake City, Utah
Officials: # Eric Curry, # David Hall, # Mark Whitehead
Attendance: 14140

No. 12 Utah 79, USC 55:
Jordan Loveridge scored 14 points as the Utes overwhelmed the visiting Trojans in the Pac-12 opener for both teams.

Delon Wright added 11 points and matched his season high with 10 assists for Utah (11-2), which improved to 9-0 at home in giving coach Larry Krystkowiak his largest margin of victory in a Pac-12 game. The Utes – who also received 11 points from Brandon Taylor, 10 from Dakarai Tucker and nine rebounds from Chris Reyes – shot 56.9 percent from the field, including 11-of-19 from 3-point range.

Nikola Jovanovic and Malik Martin had 14 points and six rebounds apiece to pace USC (8-5), which lost its sixth straight Pac-12 road opener. Julian Jacobs added 10 points off the bench for the Trojans, who shot 38.5 percent from the field and were outscored by 24 points from beyond the arc and 10-2 at the free-throw line.

USC held a 7-6 advantage a little more than four minutes into the game, but Loveridge's 3-pointer ignited a 15-2 Utah run over the ensuing six minutes, giving the Utes a 21-9 lead. Utah expanded its advantage to 39-22 at the break, shooting 57.7 percent from the field, including 5-of-9 outside the 3-point arc, in the opening 20 minutes.

The Utes outscored the Trojans 9-4 in the opening 3:15 of the second half, and after the visitors cut the lead to 15, stretched the advantage to 65-42 with 8:26 remaining. USC was only able to get as close as 18 points the rest of the way.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Utah has won four straight and 10 of its last 11 games, losing only to No. 14 Kansas 63-60 in Kansas City, Mo., on Dec. 13. … Loveridge made his first start since Nov. 26 and has scored 28 points on 10-of-14 shooting while grabbing nine rebounds and dishing out three assists in the last two contests since coming back from a seven-game knee-injury absence. … USC was without reserve G Chass Bryan, who stayed back in Los Angeles while recovering from an illness.

Top Game Performances
 
Southern California   Utah
Nikola Jovanovic 14 Scoring Jordan Loveridge 14
Julian Jacobs 4 Assists Delon Wright 10
Nikola Jovanovic 6 Rebounds Chris Reyes 9
Nikola Jovanovic 2 Free Throws Made Dallin Bachynski 3
Julian Jacobs 1 Steals Dallin Bachynski 2
Elijah Stewart 2 Blocks Dallin Bachynski 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Southern California 55 38.5 3-13 2-5 11 29 3 6 9
Utah 79 56.9 11-19 10-20 19 35 6 6 11