USC rolls over rival UCLA 95-71 in Pac-12 tournament

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Bennie Boatwright scored 19 points, Jordan McLaughlin added 18 and Southern California beat rival UCLA for the third time this season, rolling over the Bruins 95-71 on Wednesday night in the opening round of the Pac-12 tournament.

USC (21-11) raced away from the Bruins from the opening tip, shooting its way to a 19-point halftime lead and into Thursday's quarterfinals against No. 2 seed Utah.

Boatwright hit 5 of 9 from 3-point range and the seventh-seeded Trojans went 11 for 23 beyond the arc to win three straight games over the Bruins in the same season for the first time since 1942. USC had not beaten UCLA three times in a season since going 3-1 in 1954.

Nikola Jovanovic had 16 points, and Chimezie Metu finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds for the fifth-seeded Trojans.

Thomas Welsh had 12 points to lead the 10th-seeded Bruins (15-17), who were outrebounded 52-29.