17 More Rebounds Carry No. 21 USC Past Cal 77-65 as Jacob Cofie Grabs 15

Photo: USC Athletics. Jacob Cofie, official roster headshot. Card design: The Dyme.

No. 21 USC beat Cal 77-65 on Wednesday night at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley, and won the boards by 17. The Trojans outrebounded the Golden Bears 53-36, including 19 offensive boards to Cal's 14, per the ESPN box score. USC rebounded 19 of its 38 missed field goals, half of them, while Cal got back 14 of its 43, by our count from the ESPN box. That offset a cold shooting night: USC went 6-of-21 from three and 26-of-64 overall. USC moved to 3-0. Cal fell to 2-2. Attendance was 5,087, and the game aired on ESPN2.

Jacob Cofie played all 40 minutes and finished with 13 points, 15 rebounds, six assists, three blocks and two steals. Thirteen of his 15 rebounds came on the defensive end. Alijah Arenas led USC with 19 points on 8-of-16 shooting. Rodney Rice scored 18 and went 6-of-6 at the line. KJ Lewis added 16 off the bench, and Jadis Jones pulled down 11 rebounds, six of them offensive, in 29 minutes.

One lead change

Cal jumped out 9-2 on Sammie Yeanay's dunk at 17:01 of the first half, its largest lead of the night, per ESPN. The Bears still led 20-18 at 9:00. Arenas scored on a layup and converted the free throw at 8:06 to put USC ahead 21-20, and USC never trailed again. ESPN lists one lead change for the game. Rice's three at 0:41 and two Lewis free throws with four seconds left made it 39-30 at halftime.

Cal got within 59-56 on Jake Wilkins' alley-oop dunk at 7:59 of the second half. USC outscored Cal 18-9 the rest of the way, by our count from the ESPN play-by-play. Cofie had a dunk and three free throws in that stretch, and Arenas hit a three at 2:44 for a 73-60 lead. USC's largest lead was 14, at 75-61.

Cal won the paint, the break and the turnover battle

Cal scored 34 points in the paint to USC's 26, 16 fast-break points to USC's four and 12 points off turnovers to USC's four, per ESPN. The Bears committed seven turnovers to USC's 12. They still lost by 12.

The 12-point margin breaks down by our count from the ESPN box: plus-6 from three (6 threes to 4), plus-4 at the line (19 free throws to 15) and plus-2 on twos (20 two-point baskets to 19). The Trojans also blocked nine shots to Cal's two. Cal shot 4-of-23 from three (17%), and Nojus Indrusaitis went 2-of-9 from deep.

Cal's side

Yeanay led Cal with 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Indrusaitis scored 13 on 4-of-14 with six rebounds. Semetri Carr had six points, five rebounds and five assists off the bench. Jordan Ross added seven points and three assists. The Bears shot 23-of-66 (35%).

USC's bench outscored Cal's 27-18, by our count from the ESPN box, with Lewis supplying 16 of the 27.

The box score, side by side

Full-game team numbers, per the ESPN box score:

Category	USC	Cal
Field goals	26-64 (41%)	23-66 (35%)
3-pointers	6-21 (29%)	4-23 (17%)
Free throws	19-25 (76%)	15-21 (71%)
Rebounds	53	36
Offensive rebounds	19	14
Assists	16	13
Turnovers	12	7
Steals	3	7
Blocks	9	2
Points in the paint	26	34
Points off turnovers	4	12
Fast-break points	4	16
Largest lead	14	7

Half scoring, per the ESPN linescores:

Half	USC	Cal
1	39	30
2	38	35
Final	77	65

USC is No. 21 in the AP men's Top 25, per ESPN. Cal was unranked.

Next on the schedule

USC hosts Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Galen Center in Los Angeles on Sunday, Nov. 15, per the ESPN team schedule.

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Sources:

• ESPN: USC vs. California box score
• ESPN: USC vs. California play-by-play
• CBS Sports: USC at California gametracker box score
• USC Athletics: men's basketball roster