Boogie Ellis, No. 24 USC beat St. Joseph’s at Wooden Legacy - Los Angeles Times
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Boogie Ellis, No. 24 USC beat St. Joseph’s at Wooden Legacy

USC forward Chevez Goodwin and guard Boogie Ellis defend against Saint Joseph's guard Erik Reynolds II.
USC forward Chevez Goodwin, left, and guard Boogie Ellis defend against Saint Joseph’s guard Erik Reynolds II in the second half at the Wooden Legacy tournament in Anaheim Thursday.
(Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Associated Press)
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Boogie Ellis scored 17 points on eight-of-14 shooting, Joshua Morgan added 13 and No. 24 USC beat St. Joseph’s 70-55 on Thursday night at the Wooden Legacy.

Chevez Goodwin had 10 points and eight rebounds for USC (5-0), which will face San Diego State on Friday night.

Ellis scored seven points in a 19-4 run that made it 23-9 midway through the first half and the Trojans led the rest of the way.

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Ejike Obinna was 9 of 13 from the field and finished with a career-high 18 points and 10 rebounds for St. Joseph’s (2-3). Taylor Funk added 12 points and eight rebounds.

Erik Reynolds II hit two three-pointers and Funk added a third for the Hawks in the first four minutes of the second half to trim their deficit to 44-37. Isaiah Mobley, in the high-post, slipped a bounce pass to Morgan on the baseline for a two-handed dunk, Max Agbonkpolo made a jumper in the lane and Morgan added a layup to extend the lead 13 about 90 seconds later and the Hawks trailed by double figures the rest of the way.

Boogie Ellis scored 19 points and No. 24 USC opened a double-digit lead less than three minutes into the game, rolling to a 98-71 victory over Dixie State.

Mobley, whose younger brother Evan was the No. 3 pick in the 2021 NBA draft, had just four points on two-of-eight shooting but added 11 rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block.

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The Trojans went into the game averaging 9.2 turnovers per game — eighth fewest in the NCAA this season — and committed seven Thursday and scored 16 points off 15 St. Joseph’s turnovers.

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