By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, CA–The Golden Bear highlight of the evening? Jacob Orender’s 3-pointer in the game’s final minutes.

For Cal, that’s not good.

The Bears started lethargically, likely in deference to the effort they expended in an overtime loss to UCLA on Wednesday, and were routed by the USC Trojans on Saturday evening, 89-66.

Benny Boatwright made himself at home on the road with a career-best 10 made threes and 36 points to lead USC. Boatwright started early with 11 points in the Trojans’ 19-9 start that put Cal in an early hole less than seven minutes in.

“We took a step back after taking steps in the right direction,” Cal coach Wyking Jones admitted. “We just have to get back to it and get back on track, because we’re in a funk right now. The defensive woes carried into the offense and we couldn’t find rhythm there. It’s a lot easier to play defense when you are hitting shots.”

The Bears squandered an opportunity to end their lengthy losing streak while at home at Haas Pavilion. The Bears (5-20, 0-13) have dropped 14 straight, and are still looking for their first win in Pac-12 play.

Meanwhile, the Trojans bounced back from a frustrating loss at Stanford on Wednesday, and remained on track for a top-four finish in the conference that would secure a first-round bye in the conference tournament.

The Trojans won for only the second time on the road in conference play, but did it with ease, leading by as much as 19 in the first half, and 31 mid-way through the second half. But the rout wasn’t the story, Boatwright’s hot shooting was.

The 6’10” senior tied the school-record nine threes with 13:32 remaining, and was taken out of the game soon after with USC clearly in command. But coach Andy Enfield put Boatwright inserted Boatwright back in the game and he broke the record held by Katin Reinhardt and Anthony Pendleton with 4:05 remaining.

An earlier possession saw Boatwright pass up an open look, which prompted a reaction from Enfield.

“I caught it and I didn’t shoot it, and Enfield was like,`Shoot it,” he said. “I was like,`You’re telling me to shoot it? OK, you don’t gotta tell me twice.'”

The Bears’ defense was porous once again, allowing the Trojans numerous open looks from the perimeter and 53 percent shooting overall. Cal enjoyed a healthy 30-18 advantage in points in the paint, but it mattered little with USC converting 19 3-pointers.

The Bears have now suffered consecutive 20-loss seasons for the first time in school history. They travel to Arizona this week in hopes of snapping their losing skid.