LOS ANGELES—Tre White and Reese Dixon-Waters each scored a career-high 20 points on combined 17–of–26 shooting and Southern California never trailed Wednesday night in its 88–78 win over Long Beach State.
White made 9 of 14 from the field and Dixon-Waters, who also had a career-best five assists, two steals and two blocks, was 8–of–12 shooting. Drew Peterson had 15 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists for USC and Kobe Johnson made 5 of 6 from the field and finished with 14 points.
The Trojans scored the first seven points and took a 20–8 lead when Dixon-Waters made a layup with 12:48 left in the first half. Marcus Tsohonis hit a jumper and then a 3-pointer to spark a 10–4 spurt that trimmed Long Beach State’s deficit to 66–65—the closest the Beach had been since USC led 2–0—with 8 minutes to go but the Trojans scored 11 of the next 13 points to take a 10-point lead when White hit a 3-pointer to make it 77–67 with 4:22 remaining….