USC Wins Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic For Second Time

Courtesy of AP – www.espn.com/ncb/recap/_/gameId/400999700

Bennie Boatwright had quite the eventful week in Hawaii.

Boatwright drained a long 3-pointer with 4.1 seconds left and Southern California held off New Mexico State 77-72 in the title game of the Diamond Head Classic Monday.

The Trojans (9-4) won the tournament for the second time in program history with their third consecutive win. They also won the inaugural tournament in 2009.

“I didn’t think about that. I honestly just wanted to win three games. That’s all I wanted,” said Boatwright, a 6-foot-10 junior. “It’s just a sign of hard work and my teammates believing in me and guys looking for me.”

New Mexico State held a 72-68 lead with 1:58 remaining, but Jordan McLaughlin banked in a 7-foot jumper and Jonah Mathews tied it with his coast-to-coast layup with 1:01 left.

Boatwright’s trey from about 26-feet on the left wing gave the Trojans the lead for good.

“Bennie played terrific basketball,” USC coach Andy Enfield said.

“To get MVP of the tournament after scoring two points and getting ejected thirteen minutes into the (Akron) game is pretty impressive. Bennie had a couple rough games where he didn’t shoot the ball well and just didn’t play that well, but he stayed in the gym and he’s healthy now. Now I think you’re seeing Bennie with a lot of energy and a desire to do a lot of things on the floor to help our team win,” Enfield said.

Boatwright had 10 points in the first half and shot 6 of 10 from the field after the intermission.

“Their length and their athleticism bothered us as the game wore on, especially in the second half, and a lot of credit goes to them. They dug in defensively and I thought they were really good down the stretch on the defensive end of the floor, and then at the end of the day Bennie Boatwright was just too hard to guard for us tonight,” Aggies coach Chris Jans said. “He made some shots that I don’t think it would have mattered who was guarding him. He really made some big shots and then they did what good teams do, they closed it out at the free-throw line.”

McLaughlin added 12 points, eight assists and five rebounds for the Trojans, who shot 51 percent (26 of 51) from the field and 11 of 21 from beyond the arc.

Zach Lofton scored 28 points to lead the Aggies (11-3), who saw their five-game win streak snapped.

Lofton and Boatwright tied the tournament record for 3-pointers in a championship game with six apiece.

The score was tied at 34 at halftime.