After losing four games in a row, the Trojans were thirsty for a win. Meanwhile, Utah had just improved their record to 16-7 with wins over Washington and Washington State and wanted to continue their NCAA bid. The latter won out over the former on Thursday Night, as Utah built a 17-point lead in the second half and held on to win 79-71. 

The Trojans fall to 10-14 on the season, and clinched a losing Pac-12 record by moving to 1-10 in-conference. The Utes were boosted by 10-of-19 shooting from beyond the three-point line, while the Trojans hit a 31.3 percent clip from downtown. “Utah played a very good game and made some tough shots, if we held them a bit there in the end we would have had a chance,” head coach Andy Enfield said.

Byron Wesley led USC with 20 points, while Kahlil Dukes (10) was the only other Trojan in double figures. Delon Wright had 20 points for the Utes, while Jordan Loveridge added 19.

The Trojans started the game well, controlling the pace well en route to a 18-10 lead eight minutes in. Utah went on a 15-3 run from there, led by Wright, who had a game-leading 12 points in the opening half to go with six rebounds.

From there, USC missed several easy baskets and visibly lost confidence and control of the game as the Utes took over and seemed more agile and aggressive on offense. 

The Utes took a 36-31 halftime lead, and while the Trojans shot 45 percent in the first ten minutes of the game, that rate dropped to 37 percent with a poor showing to end the half. They also made just one of eight three-point attempts. 

Dukes opened the second half with a three-pointer, but Utah's Dakarai Tucker netted a shot from behind the line himself as an immediate response. “They’re really tough to guard, as their offense has a lot of nuances,” Wesley commented after the game.

Shortly after, Utah pulled away and led by 60-44 with under 10 minutes to go. While Utah spread out their offense with four players in double figures by then, only Wesley was a reliable offensive option for USC. A three-pointer from Pe'Shon Howard and dunk from Strahinja Gavrilovic cut the deficit to 10, but an unnecessary personal foul on the Trojans - which caused the crowd to reach its loudest peak - tore down a potential momentum build-up for the Trojans.

Nonetheless, USC shot 53.6 percent in the second half to stay in the game.

With 4:10 remaining, the Trojans finally began their rally back. Dukes had a nice steal-and-lay-up, setting the crowd back on their feet and cut the Utes’ lead down to five points.

When asked why Dukes, who didn't play in the previous five games and hadn't logged more than 10 minutes until 20 last night, doesn't get more play time, Enfield explained: “Kahlil is a freshman and he needs to learn. I’m very proud of him, but he gave us a good look tonight.”

While Loveridge missed one of two free throws on the possession, Nikola Jovanovic scored on a jumper with just over three minutes remaining to cut the score to 71-67.

But just when the Trojans started seeing light at the end of the tunnel, Utah showed finesse and remained ice cold. With the play clock winding down to one second and just 1:32 left to play, Loveridge sank a three-pointer for Utah, who went up 76-68.  

“Loveridge is really talented, he’s effective pumpfaking also, and he was tough,” Wesley said.

That dagger pretty much sealed the deal as Wright netted his last two free throws to lift his total points of the game up to 21, while going 11-of-12 on field goals. 

USC has now dropped their last consecutive five games, while the Utes improved to 6-6 in the Pac-12 play and 17-7 overall. USC will host Colorado at home on Sunday. 

Reach Staff Writer Alex Wowra here.