DALLAS (AP) — Ben Emelogu had 11 of his 16 points in a big go-ahead run after halftime and SMU got some measure of revenge with a 72-55 victory over No. 14 Southern California on Saturday night.
Shake Milton added 22 points for the Mustangs (7-2), who stretched their home winning streak to 28 in a row. Jimmy Whitt had 14 points and Jarrey Foster 13.
Chimezie Metu had 13 points to lead USC, which had won its last seven non-conference road games.
It was the third meeting in 13 months between the teams. The Trojans (4-2) won both games last year, including a home game in November 2016 and then again in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last March.
The Mustangs are 31-0 at home under coach Tim Jankovich, including three games when he filled in for Larry Brown when he was still an associate head coach.
SMU was down 37-33 before Emelogu hit a 3-pointer that ignited a 23-5 run. The Mustangs went ahead to stay after Milton’s two free throws with 15:31 left made it 38-37. Emelogu had three 3s and a dunk in the stretch.
After Metu’s dunk with just over 7 minutes left in the first half put the Trojans up 25-17, they went nearly 5 minutes without scoring until Metu’s jumper with 2:14 left — and they still led 27-24. USC was up 30-27 at the half after a late 3-pointer by Jonah Mathews.
BIG PICTURE
USC: A tough week for the Trojans, who were 4-0 before losing consecutive games to teams from the Lone Star State. USC was coming off a 75-59 home loss last Sunday to Texas A&M, which took over that game with a 19-3 run in the second half. USC again struggled shooting, especially after halftime when making only 8 of 22 shots against SMU.
SMU: The high-energy Mustangs thrive in Moody Coliseum, where one of the regular attenders is former President George W. Bush, who was sitting courtside again Saturday night. SMU is 46-7 under Jankovich.
UP NEXT
USC will be in Staples Center next Friday night to play Oklahoma.
SMU goes to the other side of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex to play No. 23 TCU on Tuesday night.