LAS VEGAS _ USC survived its nonconference schedule, and the No. 23 Trojans should rise in the Associated Press rankings even further, after Jordan McLaughlin drove the lane for a game-winning layup in overtime Friday night in the Las Vegas Classic final. The Trojans defeated Wyoming, 94-92, and carried McLaughlin off the court.
USC improved to 13-0 because of its two freshman guards, Jonah Mathews and De'Anthony Melton, who scored 26 and 16 points, each season highs. Leading scorer Elijah Stewart had 10 points after early foul trouble.
Wyoming took an early nine-point lead. After USC Coach Andy Enfield called a timeout, sophomore forward Chimezie Metu dunked, and McLaughlin drew a foul. When Nick Rakocevic made a one-handed tip-in, the Trojans' rally was on. Mathews drilled two three-pointers, bookended by back-to-back Melton dunks. USC led, 22-18, and the Cowboys called timeout.
It had its intended effect. USC slowed some, and the score stayed close for the rest of the half, the Trojans eventually taking a 50-44 lead at the break.
USC didn't score for the first 2{ minutes of the second half, but a McLaughlin three-pointer pushed the Trojans back ahead. A dunk from Wyoming's Jordan Naughton, who attended high school with McLaughlin, tied it.
So it went, back and forth, never far from a tie. Enfield called time after a Justin James three-pointer, but James soon drilled another for a six-point lead. The fourth-year coach later became enraged when a violation was not called when Wyoming was forced into the backcourt to recover a blocked three-pointer.
"Tom, that was two points," Enfield told official Tom O'Neill.
With six minutes to play and the Trojans trailing by three, Metu drove the lane and converted a contested layup amid a whistle. It was announced as an and-one opportunity in the arena, but soon corrected, and the Cowboys took back the ball on Metu's fourth foul.
Down a point one minute later, the Trojans stole the ball and then chased down the court. A Stewart tip-in put USC back ahead. Wyoming responded, and, soon, so did the Trojans. They were up one when Mathews intercepted a pass and made a breakaway layup.
Mathews next swished a three-pointer. The score was tied, 82-82, with 100 seconds to play and Metu fouled out of the game.
Stewart penetrated the lane and found the net. Wyoming turned the ball over. McLaughlin missed a jumper, but Melton rebounded it, and Stewart went to the free-throw line. He made one and missed one. Wyoming turned the ball over again, but Melton missed the front end of a one-and-one. The Cowboys' Haydon Dalton nailed a three-pointer with two seconds remaining to force overtime, 85-85.
The teams traded baskets, and the score was tied going into the final minute, before McLaughlin's winner.
USC managed to win Thursday against Missouri State with a seven-man rotation, because senior forward Charles Buggs was unavailable due to a sore knee. Friday, Enfield stretched it to nine, inserting Buggs and freshman forward Harrison Henderson for a rare appearance. But neither player appeared in the second half, when Enfield went back to the Thursday rotation.
The Trojans hope to have Bennie Boatwright back at some point during Pac-12 play, but their undefeated performance beforehand should give them wiggle room.
"I don't really count being in the 20s as being ranked," Stewart said after the Trojans' Thursday victory to force this final. "That's kind of just like filler spots. Until we can get into those teens, then we can start talking about something."
