USC holds off Temple in second half for 76-71 victory

PHILADELPHIA -- — Chevez Goodwin scored a career-high 19 points and USC held on after almost blowing a 23-point second-half lead, beating Temple 76-71 on Saturday night.

Isaiah White added 12, Boogie Ellis 11 and Drew Peterson 10 for the Trojans (2-0). It was the 200th career win for coach Andy Enfield.

Leading 55-32 with about 17 minutes left, USC went without a field goal over nearly eight minutes as Temple cut the score to 58-54 while Khalif Battle scored 11 points, nine via the 3-pointer. Isaiah Mobley finally got USC a 3-pointer with 9:25 left and the Trojans clung to their lead.

A 3-pointer by Zach Hicks followed by a Battle free throw cut the lead to three with 9.9 seconds left but Peterson made two free throws to seal the outcome.

Battle, who had 22 points in a season-opening win over Maryland-Baltimore County, finished with 26 points and five 3-pointers for Temple (1-1).

USC shot 59% in the first half to charge to a 19-point lead while Temple shot only 31% and was only 1 of 10 from the arc.

The Owls led over much of the opening nine minutes but Ethan Anderson hit a 3-pointer to snap a tie and, after a Temple bucket, the Trojans went on a 13-0 run with five from White and four from Ellis. USC finished the final three minutes of the half on a 13-5 run, sparked by five points from Peterson, to lead 46-27 at the break.

USC fell off to 47% shooting for the game but Temple shot only 38% percent. Neither team was sharp at the free-throw line, USC making 18 of 27 and the Owls 15 of 28. While Temple had a slight rebounding edge and 22 second-chance points to nine for the Trojans, USC dominated 42-20 in the paint.

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