Ellis, Peterson, Morgan lead USC past Mount St. Mary's 83-74

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Boogie Ellis hit four 3-pointers and finished with 19 points, Drew Peterson added 15 points, eight rebounds and a career-high 12 assists and Southern California beat Mount St. Mary's 83-74 Friday night.

Joshua Morgan made 6 of 7 from the field and finished with career highs of 15 points and 12 rebounds. The 6-foot-11 junior added four blocks for USC (3-1) and has 15 this season.

Peterson assisted on a layup by Ellis to close an 8-0 run that made it 59-44 with 9:20 to play and the Trojans led by double figures until a 10-0 run by Mount St. Mary's trimmed its deficit to 75-68 with 2:43 remaining but the Mountaineers got no closer.

USC took the lead for good on Morgan's dunk with 6:18 left that made it 24-22 and Peterson assisted on layups by Morgan and Tre White and then a 3-pointer by Ellis before his jumper with 14:25 to play capped an 11-2 run and gave the Trojans a 45-34 lead.

White finished with 10 points.

Dakota Leffew scored 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting, 4 of 5 from 3-point range, with four steals for Mount St. Mary's (1-3). Malik Jefferson made 8 of 9 from the field and finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds, four steals and three blocks. Jalen Benjamin added 17 points and seven assists.

UP NEXT

Mount St. Mary's plays the second of five consecutive road games Sunday at Cal Poly.

USC travels to the Bahamas to play BYU on Wednesday at the Battle 4 Atlantis.

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