Ellis rallies USC late, Trojans top Washington, 80-67

SEATTLE (AP) — Boogie Ellis scored 27 points and USC earned its seventh straight victory, pulling away from Washington late to earn an 80-67 win on the road Friday night.

Ellis scored 16 points in the final 10 minutes of the second half, answering a run that put Washington in front by three points. Ellis’ point total matched his output in an 82-76 win over BYU in November and was a point shy of his season high 28 in a 74-71 win over No. 19 Auburn December 18.

The Trojans (11-3) were unbeaten in six December games, including three straight to open Pac-12 play.

Washington trailed by seven at intermission but quickly erased that deficit in the second half. Freshman Keyon Menifield scored on a pair of layups and Cole Bajema hit the first of his four second-half 3-pointers to get within one, 42-41 three minutes into the half.

The Huskies then used a 10-0 run fueled by a pair of Bajema 3-pointers and a pair of baskets by Menifield to take a 58-55 lead with 10:28 left in the game. But Ellis answered by scoring nine points in an 11-0 run that put the Trojans back in front, 66-58.

Ellis finished shooting 10 of 19 from the field, including 4 of 8 from distance, and went 3-for-3 from the line, adding seven rebounds, two assists and three steals. Drew Peterson added 17 points and Tre White contributed 12 points and grabbed eight boards.

Keion Brooks paced the Huskies (9-5, 1-2) with 22 points and seven rebounds. Menifield added 18 points and Bajema was 4 of 9 from beyond the arc and contributed 12 points.

UP NEXT

USC plays at Washington State on Sunday.

Washington plays host to No. 11 UCLA on Sunday.

__

More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25