USC Cruises Past CSUN, 96-61, For 4-0 Start

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jordan McLaughlin scored 20 points, Katin Reinhardt added 17 and Southern California cruised past Cal State Northridge 96-61 Monday night for the Trojans' first 4-0 start since 2000-01.

Bennie Boatwright added 12 points and Nikola Jovanovic had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Trojans. They made a season-high 13 3-pointers, with McLaughlin hitting four and Reinhardt five, surpassing their previous best of 12 last Saturday against New Mexico.

Freshman Jason Richardson led the Matadors (2-3) with 18 points. Olalekan Ajayi had 12 points and a career-high 14 rebounds.

Reinhardt's 3-pointer pushed USC to its largest lead of 72-37 midway through the second half.

The Matadors were 1 of 14 from 3-point range. It was their worst loss since an 80-49 defeat against UC Irvine in January.

The Trojans led 46-26 at halftime -- using runs of 13-0 and 15-2 -- after going up by 27 on a 3-pointer by McLaughlin. The Matadors shot 35 percent in the half when their bench got outscored 15-0.

TIP-INS

CSUN: The Matadors are keeping it local with four straight games against USC, Loyola Marymount, UCLA and Pepperdine. Only the game against the Waves is at home. ... Richardson is leading the team in points and assists so far.

USC: The Trojans had 15 assists on 17 field goals in the first half. ... Julian Jacobs had 11 rebounds and a career-high 10 assists. ... They improved to 7-1 all-time against Northridge. ... They just missed reaching the century mark for the second time in three games, having beaten Monmouth 101-90 on Nov. 16.

UP NEXT

CSUN: At Loyola Marymount on Wednesday.

USC: Plays No. 20 Wichita State at AdvoCare Invitational in Orlando, Fla.

(© Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)