Parrish, Thornton lead balanced Ohio State attack and hold off USC 87-82

By Canadian Press on February 26, 2025.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Micah Parrish and Bruce Thornton each scored 20 points and Ohio State held on and ended its three-game skid by beating USC 87-82 on Wednesday night.

John Mobley Jr. scored 18 points and Devin Royal scored 13 points for Ohio State (16-13, 8-10 Big Ten).

Wesley Yates III scored 27 points, Chibuzo Agbo scored 17 points and Desmond Claude 12 for USC.

Trailing 52-36 at halftime, USC began the climb back and Rashaun Agee tied it at 80 on a jump shot with 1:07 remaining. On the following play out of a timeout, Royal drove baseline, spun into the lane and banked in a shot drawing a foul on Sean Stewart with 56 seconds left. The foul shot made it 83-80 and Ohio State led the remainder.

The Buckeyes made 19 of 26 shot attempts (73.1%) including 8 of 9 (88.9%) from 3-point range, and were 6 of 8 (75%) from the foul line in the first half. Thornton scored 14 points, Parrish 13 and Mobley 11 by halftime.

USC turned the tables after the break shooting 15 for 23 (65.2%).

The Trojans (14-14, 6-11) now have lost four straight and six of its last seven.

Ohio State hosts Nebraska on Tuesday. USC faces Oregon on the road on Saturday.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball

The Associated Press

13
-12