Jeriah Horne came off the bench to score 24 points and grab 11 rebounds, leading Colorado to an 80-62 win over No. 19 Southern California on Thursday night in Boulder, Colo.

In a matchup of the two Pac-12 teams with favorable chances to make the NCAA Tournament field, Horne had a night to remember. He made 9 of 12 field-goal attempts, including 6 of 9 from 3-point range, to help Colorado stay in control for almost the entire game.

The Buffaloes (18-7, 12-6 Pac-12) kept the Trojans from taking another step toward clinching the conference regular-season title. Colorado swept the two meetings between the teams this season, having won 72-62 in Los Angeles on Dec. 31.

McKinley Wright IV, who holds Colorado’s career assist record, dished out a career-high 14 assists to go with 15 points.

Tahj Eaddy and Evan Mobley scored 13 points each to led the Trojans (19-5, 13-4), who lost for the second time in three games. USC made just 38.3 percent of its shots from the floor and sank one fewer 3-pointer as a team then Horne did by himself.

Colorado closed out the first half on a 10-1 run to take a 42-29 advantage into halftime. Horne and Jabari Walker knocked down 3-pointers during that stretch.

Horne put in a transition layup after a Trojans turnover with 12:42 to play, giving Colorado a 56-39 lead. The Buffaloes took another 17-point lead, 64-47, with 8:52 to play on a Maddox Daniels layup.

USC got the deficit down to 10 with 4:22 to play on Ethan Anderson’s basket before the Buffaloes pulled away.

Colorado’s bench outscored USC’s 37-18 thanks in large part to Horne. The Buffaloes also had 20 assists to seven for USC, and Colorado scored 17 points off turnovers compared to three for the Trojans.

–Field Level Media