USC USC/UC Santa Barbara Ucsb Men's College Basketball recap on ESPN

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) -- David Bluthenthal's rebound basket with 5.4 seconds left helped lead Southern California (No. 15 ESPN/USA Today, No. 12 AP) to a 75-73 victory over UC Santa Barbara on Saturday night.

Bluthenthal, who had 25 points and 12 rebounds, put back Tyler Murphy's long 3-point attempt to lead the Trojans (6-0) to the victory. Bluthenthal's putback was USC's only basket in the final 2:48.

UC Santa Barbara (2-5), which played in overtime in three home games this season, was poised to go into overtime again Saturday, but Jacoby Atako's driving shot missed and Mike Vukovich's follow slam caromed off the rim.

Vukovich, a 6-foot-9 junior forward, scored a career-high 18 points, which included two free throws with 19.2 seconds remaining to tie it at 73.

The Gauchos trailed by as many as 14 in the first half, and were trailing 32-26 at halftime, but went on a 12-0 run early in the second half to surge to a 40-35 lead.

Mark Hull, held scoreless through the first half, sank consecutive 3-pointers to fuel UC Santa Barbara's rally.

The Gauchos went on a late 13-1 run, getting 3-pointers from freshman Nick Jones and Hull with 49.3 seconds to pull to 73-71. Hull finished with 15 points.

The Trojans' press forced six Gauchos turnovers in the first four minutes. USC also made three quick 3-pointers and got a three-point play by Sam Clancy to take a 12-0 lead with 15:29 left in the first half. Clancy, who scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half, helped put USC ahead 61-50 with 6:27 to go.

Brandon Granville sank his first four tries from 3-point range to give USC its biggest lead of the first half at 18-4. He finished with 18 points and six assists.

Freshman backup forward Casey Cook scored eight quick points midway through the first half to help UC Santa Barbara go on a 12-1 run, trimming the Trojans' lead to 19-16.

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