USC holds off Nebraska for another road win

Desmond Claude scored 21 points and Wesley Yates III added 17 as Southern California continued to look comfortable on the road on Wednesday, earning a 78-73 victory over Nebraska in Lincoln.

Rashaun Agee scored 14 points off the bench and Nebraska native Saint Thomas added 11 for the Trojans (12-7, 4-4 Big Ten), who improved to 3-1 in conference road games in their first season in the big Ten.

Agee went 4 of 6 from 3-point range after entering the game with six made baskets from long range on the season.

Juwan Gary scored 16 of his career-high 27 points in the first half and Brice Williams added 17 for Nebraska (12-7, 2-6), which lost its fifth consecutive game.

Connor Essegian had 15 for the Cornhuskers, who lost their second consecutive home game following the end of their 20-game winning streak on their own floor at the hands of Rutgers last Thursday.

In a tie game, Claude made a 3-pointer to give USC a 72-69 lead with 45 seconds remaining. An Essegian layup got the Cornhuskers within a point with 18 seconds left before Claude made a pair of free throws for a 74-71 advantage with 17 seconds left.

Berke Buyuktuncel scored inside to get Nebraska within 74-73 with 7.4 seconds left.

Yates made a pair of free throws with 6.3 seconds on the clock to put the Trojans up 76-73 before the Cornhuskers turned the ball over with 2.4 seconds left and Yates added two more free throws with 1.7 seconds left.

Over a tight second half, USC used a 6-0 run to pull ahead 62-57 with 4:53 remaining. A 7-2 run by Nebraska, capped by a three-point play by Williams, tied the score 64-64 with 3:24 left.

In the first meeting between the programs since 2012, USC held a 12-6 lead six minutes into the game before Nebraska led 24-18 with 8:01 remaining before halftime.

The Cornhuskers led 33-31 at the break after making half of their 28 shots. The Trojans were 0 of 9 from 3-point range while shooting 45.2 percent overall in the first half.

--Field Level Media