USC Trojan guard Boogie Ellis (5) drives on Stanford Cardinal forward Brandon Angel (left) at the Galen Center in Los Angeles on Sat Jan 6, 2024 (AP News photo)

By DANIEL DULLUM

Stanford’s final men’s basketball Pac-12 road trip to Los Angeles ended in a split on Saturday, as the Cardinal fell 93-79 to Southern California at Galen Center.

Isaiah Collier collected a game-high 26 points for USC, followed by Boogie Ellis with 22 points and five rebounds, and Kobe Johnson with 21 points, five steals and five assists. Ellis, Johnson and Joshua Morgan each had five rebounds for the Trojans.

Michael Jones led the Cardinal (7-7 overall, 2-2 Pac-12) with 23 points on 8 of 9 field goal attempts while sinking 5 of 5 from 3-point range. Brandon Angel was next with 18 points, including 3 of 3 behind the arc, along with five rebounds and six assists. Spencer Jones added 12 points and Maxime Reynaud grabbed 10 rebounds.

The Cardinal lost despite shooting 52.7 percent from the field, including 59.1 percent on 3s. When Spencer Jones hit his second 3 of the game, he moved into 11th place on the Pac-12’s all-time 3-point standings, passing former Arizona State guard Rihards Kuksika.

The two teams traded one-basket leads in the opening minutes, but USC (8-7 overall, 2-2 Pac-12) eventually took a 39-35 halftime lead. Spencer Jones scored the Cardinal’s first seven points of the second half – nine of their first 11 – and Stanford later used a 10-0 run to tie the game at 61-61.

USC regained the lead and held it for the remainder of the game,

The Trojans made 47.8 percent from the field (32 of 67) while making 14 of 25 (56 percent) of their 3-point attempts. USC had a 34-31 rebounding edge.

The Cardinal return to action Thursday at Oregon State. Tipoff is at 8 p.m.