Alphonso Plummer scores 19 points, while Timmy Allen adds 15

• Salt Lake City, UT – Saturday, February 27, 2021: Men’s PAC-12 basketball. USC in Utah at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. © 2021 Bryan Byerly
• Salt Lake City, UT – Saturday, February 27, 2021: Men’s PAC-12 basketball. USC in Utah at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. © 2021 Bryan Byerly
• Salt Lake City, UT – Saturday, February 27, 2021: Men’s PAC-12 basketball. USC in Utah at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. © 2021 Bryan Byerly
• Salt Lake City, UT – Saturday, February 27, 2021: Men’s PAC-12 basketball. USC in Utah at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. © 2021 Bryan Byerly
• Salt Lake City, UT – Saturday, February 27, 2021: Men’s PAC-12 basketball. USC in Utah at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. © 2021 Bryan Byerly
• Salt Lake City, UT – Saturday, February 27, 2021: Men’s PAC-12 basketball. USC in Utah at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. © 2021 Bryan Byerly
• Salt Lake City, UT – Saturday, February 27, 2021: Men’s PAC-12 basketball. USC in Utah at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. © 2021 Bryan Byerly
• Salt Lake City, UT – Saturday, February 27, 2021: Men’s PAC-12 basketball. USC in Utah at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. © 2021 Bryan Byerly
• Salt Lake City, UT – Saturday, February 27, 2021: Men’s PAC-12 basketball. USC in Utah at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. © 2021 Bryan Byerly
• Salt Lake City, UT – Saturday, February 27, 2021: Men’s PAC-12 basketball. USC in Utah at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. © 2021 Bryan Byerly
• Salt Lake City, UT – Saturday, February 27, 2021: Men’s PAC-12 basketball. USC in Utah at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. © 2021 Bryan Byerly
• Salt Lake City, UT – Saturday, February 27, 2021: Men’s PAC-12 basketball. USC in Utah at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. © 2021 Bryan Byerly
• Salt Lake City, UT – Saturday, February 27, 2021: Men’s PAC-12 basketball. USC in Utah at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. © 2021 Bryan Byerly
• Salt Lake City, UT – Saturday, February 27, 2021: Men’s PAC-12 basketball. USC in Utah at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. © 2021 Bryan Byerly
• Salt Lake City, UT – Saturday, February 27, 2021: Men’s PAC-12 basketball. USC in Utah at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. © 2021 Bryan Byerly
• Salt Lake City, UT – Saturday, February 27, 2021: Men’s PAC-12 basketball. USC in Utah at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. © 2021 Bryan Byerly
• Salt Lake City, UT – Saturday, February 27, 2021: Men’s PAC-12 basketball. USC in Utah at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. © 2021 Bryan Byerly
• Salt Lake City, UT – Saturday, February 27, 2021: Men’s PAC-12 basketball. USC in Utah at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. © 2021 Bryan Byerly

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4 Sports) – In a season with few bright spots, Saturday night was the brightest when Utes basketball team # 19 USC, 71-61, tied off.

Alphonso Plummer scored 19 points, Timmy Allen added 15 points and eight assists, and Utah retired at the Huntsman Center towards the end of the second half.

Plummer made five 3-points and Ian Martinez scored 10 points off the bench to help the Utes (10-11, 7-10 Pac-12) beat a top 25 opponent for the first time this season.

“The best thing about my game is that I’m not just a goalscorer,” said Allen. “My mindset was to come out and play games, regardless of whether I score a goal or a teammate get a shot.”

Ian Martinez scored 10 points from the bench for Utah. The Utes shot 48% off the field and had 19 assists on 27 baskets.

Drew Peterson scored 19 points and Evan Mobley added 11 points and eight rebounds for suddenly struggling with USC (19-6, 13-5), who shot 37% off the field and lost for the third time in four games.

“The ball has to burst for us,” said Utes coach Larry Krystkowiak. “We don’t have a great isolation team. Some teams can get by with this. We’re in the top three in our league for assisted baskets, even though we haven’t done many of the looks we had (had). And I think we can get better. “

“Our second half of basketball was our worst half of probably the entire season,” said Trojan coach Andy Enfield. “The first five played very badly on both sides of the ball in the second half.

Utah hit 12 of their first 15 shots after halftime, building a 13-point lead that rose between 50 and 37 with one jumper of all. The young striker made five baskets and assisted four more on this route.

USC reduced the deficit to 55-50 with a three-point game from Peterson. But that’s as close as the Trojans. Plummer scored four baskets over four minutes – including three threes – to extend Utah’s 2:01 lead to 69-56.

Sloppy Basketball defined the first half as the Trojans and Utes that made 19 sales before halftime.

USC took a defensive tone by pushing Utah to multiple early turnovers and opening the door for the Trojans to take an 18-8 lead early. Peterson and Isaiah White scored three baskets each to fuel the 18-4 run that gave USC the double-digit cushion. Two of White’s baskets came from sales.

The Utes responded with a 10-2 run, reducing USC’s lead to 22:20 on consecutive 3-pointers from Plummer. Utah limited the Trojans to just four baskets in the last eleven minutes of the first half in order to stay within striking distance.

Allen scored two baskets in a row at the end of an 8-0 run to give the Utes a 35:29 lead at the beginning of the second half.

Once Utah cooked, USC couldn’t keep up.

“If you look at our numbers in terms of shooting percentage and sales, it was probably our worst performance of the entire season,” said Enfield.

The Utes host Oregon State on March 3rd.