USC rallies in 2nd half to beat South Dakota State 84-66

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nick Rakocevic tied his career high with 27 points and 16 rebounds and Southern California twice rallied in the second half before pulling away to beat South Dakota State 84-66 Tuesday night.

Onyeka Okongwu, who had double-doubles in his first two college games, added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Trojans (3-0).

Rakocevic went over 1,000 points in his career as did fellow senior Jonah Mathews, who finished with 14 points.

The Jackrabbits (3-1) twice pulled within one point in the second half, both times on 3-pointers by Noah Freidel and Brandon Key. The second time the Trojans responded with 11 unanswered points to go up 56-44. Grad transfer Quinton Adlesh hit two 3-pointers and Okongwu had a three-point play.

The Jacks weren’t done.

They used a 12-3 run to close to 59-56, with four different players scoring, including five points from Baylor Scheierman.

The Trojans responded with their own 9-3 spurt, making seven of 10 free throws for a 68-59 lead.

Tray Buchanan’s 3-pointer — the Jacks’ fifth of the half — left them down by six.

From there, USC pulled away to end the game on a 16-4 run. Mathews made two 3-pointers and the Trojans made six free throws.

Douglas Wilson led the Jacks with 15 points and David Wingett added 10 before both fouled out.

BIG PICTURE

South Dakota State: The two-time defending Summit League regular season champions feature several new faces, having returned just 17 percent of their scoring from last season. The Jackrabbits were picked to finish fifth in the league.

USC: The Trojans have faced challenges in each of their first three wins. They trailed at halftime in the first two and needed multiple rallies to put away the Jacks. Okongwu needs to avoid early fouls that have taken him out for chunks of time. Grad transfer Adlesh is proving to be a reliable 3-point shooter and steady presence on the floor.

UP NEXT

South Dakota State: Visits Nebraska on Friday, one of four Power 5 schools on the Jackrabbits’ non-conference schedule.

USC: Visits Nevada on Saturday and its new coach Steve Alford, who was fired at UCLA last New Year’s Eve. It’s the Trojans’ only road game among their first six. USC leads the series 2-1 but lost 73-61 last season.