As the game dwindled down in its final minutes, USC’s Chibuzo Agbo held the ball in the post under the basket with a player defending him. He was seemingly out of options until he found Matt Knowling cutting to the basket and fed him a bounce pass. Knowling slammed home the exclamation point basket during the Trojans’ 82-68 victory over the San José State Spartans at the Galen Center on Wednesday night.
USC needed a balanced effort to bounce back from its first loss of the season on Sunday against Cal.
San Jose State (1-5) hung around for most of the first half, capitalizing on a slow start by the Trojans (4-1). Both teams had nearly identical stats at halftime: USC had slight edges in shooting and three-point percentages, turnovers, assists and rebounds, but a 28-point performance from USC’s bench — led by Terrance Williams II (20 points) and Wesley Yates III (14 points) — carried the Trojans to a seven-point halftime lead.
USC built on its momentum once the second half began, going on a 10-0 run during the first five minutes to extend its lead to 15. Just when it looked like San José State was coming back, the Trojans’ bench stepped up again as Agbo (20 points) hit three consecutive three pointers.
The Spartans wouldn’t go away just yet, however, mounting a late 8-0 run to trim USC’s lead to 10, but a jumper and pair of free throws from Knowling (12 points) shut down the rally.
USC will host Grambling on Sunday before playing in the Acrisure Classic in Palm Springs next week.