LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ezra Ausar scored 21 points, Jacob Cofie had a double-double and Southern California held off Rutgers for a 78-75 victory on Saturday night.
Rutgers never led after scoring the opening bucket and trailed by as many as 19 points early in the second half. With 2:23 to play, Tariq Francis sparked an 11-2 surge for the Scarlet Knights that capped the scoring with 36 seconds left. Francis scored nine points during the stretch.
Chad Baker-Mazara missed a jumper for USC with five seconds to go but then forced a turnover to end it. Baker-Mazara finished with 17 points for USC (16-6, 5-6 Big Ten). Cofie scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
Francis scored 26 points to lead Rutgers (9-13, 2-9), which has lost five straight. Dylan Grant added 14 points and 10 rebounds.
The Trojans started with an 18-6 run and built a 40-30 halftime lead. Cofie scored 12 points and Ausar added nine in the first half for the Trojans. Grant and Francis each scored nine first-half points for the Scarlet Knights. USC had its largest lead, 56-37, with 14:37 to play.
Rutgers: at UCLA on Tuesday.
USC: hosts Indiana on Tuesday.
___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
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