Box Score LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Collin Welp had a season-high 24 points, but it was not enough in a 66-61 loss to No. 10 USC at the Galen Center Wednesday.

UCI had the top 10 team on the ropes, but the Trojans were able to hit 11-18 free throws in the second half and out-rebound the Anteaters 46-33 for the game. USC owned a 28-18 advantage on the glass in the final 20 minutes.

Welp's season-high 24 points were on 10-25 from the field and 3-3 from the line. The forward scored nine of the team's final 11 points.

USC improves to 11-0, while UC Irvine goes to 5-3.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>DJ Davis totaled 12 points, shooting .500 from the field (5-10)
>Forward Austin Johnson was one shy of a double-double with a season-high 10 points and nine rebounds. He had a four blocks
>Freshman Bent Leuchten had five points and two blocks, while Emmanual Tshimanga pulled down five rebounds
>USC was led by Chavez Goodwin with 23 points, 17 coming in the second half on 7-11 from the charity stripe. He also had three blocks and two steals
>Isaiah Mobley with 22 points and 12 rebounds in the win

FIRST HALF
>The Anteaters started 1-11 from the floor with an Austin Johnson rebound tap-back at 17:24 as the lone basket.
> USC jumped out to a 12-2 lead at 14:40
>UCI then exploded with an 11-0 run over an 88 second span, giving UCI a 13-12 lead and forced a USC timeout at 12:51. DJ Davis had two threes and a free throw line jumper and Bent Leuchten drained a three up top
>The Trojans scored the next four before Welp scored nine straight to give UCI the  22-16 lead at 8:21. The Anteaters would out-scored USC 24-6 over a six minute stretch
>In a UCI 6-2 spurt, JC Butler was fouled beyond arc and made three free throws (5:12) then Austin Johnson made a basket and was fouled adding the extra point to give UCI a 32-24 advantage at 4:41
>While starting slow offensively, UCI finished 12-19 from the floor and went into the half with a 36-28 lead
>The Anteaters scored 12 points on eight Trojan turnovers

SECOND HALF
>USC out-scored UCI 8-2 in the first 4:40 of the half to close within 38-36
>The Anteaters shooting was similar to the first, hitting just 2-11 for the first eight minutes, including a 3:10 drought which helped the Trojans score five in a row to go ahead 41-40 at 10:56
>An important moment came at 7:25 when a missed free throw by a Trojan was battled for between Anteater teammates and was inadvertently into USC's basket to give the Trojans a 48-45 lead
>DJ Davis would hit a jumper to cut the deficit to 53-50 at 4:28
>Isaiah Mobley would hit a three to put the Trojans up 56-50 at 4:06
>Welp would put the Anteaters on his back scoring nine points, the last a driving layup with 53 seconds remaining to edge UCI to 59-61
>A rebound put-back by Goodwin and three free throws down the stretch helped USC hold off UCI, 66-61  

HEAD COACH RUSSELL TURNER
"I thought we could perform against a Top 10 team on the road, I thought the game was allowed to be played physically and in the second half ended up in the bonus so early. It really came down to rebounds, we ended up getting fouls because we didn't rebound.

This was at the level of an NCAA Tournament type game and hope we put ourselves in a position to play and be in a game like this. There were too many plays that reflected a lack of engagement on the boards for us."

NOTES
>Welp moved up to 17^th in UCI all-time scoring with 1,256 passing Detroit Lions tight end Darren Fells
>The Anteaters went 4-17 from beyond the arc, matching a season-low
>UCI held the Trojans to just 28 first half points, the second fewest points in a half by USC this season

UP NEXT
>UCI will travel to Akron, Ohio to take on Duquesne Sunday (Dec. 19) at 10:00 a.m. PT