The Rady Children’s Invitational began Thursday with wins for USC and Oklahoma in the college basketball tournament’s inaugural edition at UC San Diego.
No. 23 USC (4-1) – led by a Mission Bay High alum – defeated Seton Hall (4-1) 71-63 and Oklahoma denied Iowa 79-67 at the LionTree Arena on campus.
On Friday, in the concluding day of the invitational, USC will play Oklahoma in the 12:30 p.m. game, followed by Seton Hall vs. Iowa at 3 p.m.
In Thursday’s action, the Trojans outscored the Pirates by 10 in the first half, allowing them to survive a wave of pressure by Seton Hall after the break.
Coach Andy Enfield told the Associated Press that his team was “a little fatigued” in the second half.
“I thought we made some careless mistakes on offense. We just weren’t efficient,” he said.
Boogie Ellis, the Mission Bay High grad, led all scorers with 22 points. He added five rebounds and two assists. Kadary Richmond had 18 for Seton Hall.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma’s Jalon Moore had 18 points to lead the Sooners (5-0) over Iowa (3-2). Owen Freeman had 13 points and seven rebounds for the Hawkeyes, who shot just under 36% on the game.
