No. 15-ranked USC was coming off a tough loss as a team, a second defeat this season to Stanford, but perhaps no player had carried the sting of that setback the last two days more than junior forward Isaiah Mobley.

He had missed a short jump hook, one of two free throws and a final 3-point attempt at the buzzer Thursday with the Trojans trailing in a one-possession game over the final 30 seconds.

"He missed three shots in literally 15 seconds, so I know that was hard on him because he took responsibility. It wasn't his fault we lost, obviously, but for a young man, as good a player he is, that's tough," Trojans coach Andy Enfield said.

Saturday would go much differently for USC's veteran leader, and perhaps it was no coincidence that Mobley delivered one of his most aggressive, assertive performances in this one.

The 6-foot-10 Mobley finished with a season-high 24 points along with 6 rebounds and 2 blocks, hitting 9 of 21 shots from the field (and 5 of 6 from the line). He hadn't attempted more than 14 shots in any other conference game. More to the point, he delivered time and again when the Trojans (18-3, 8-3 Pac-12) needed it, as they rallied back from an 11-point deficit in the first half, and as they closed out a 79-72 win against a pesky Cal team inside Galen Center.

Guard Boogie Ellis also scored a season-high with 21 points (on 8-of-10 shooting) as those two led the way from start to finish.

"He played a great game in the lane. They have trouble guarding him because he's so crafty when he gets in there," Enfield said of Mobley. "... He was really a guy that we knew had a mismatch whoever was guarding him. ...

"I thought you saw what kind of person and player he is tonight. He came out and was aggressive on both ends of the court and played a great basketball game."

Mobley wasn't one of the players brought to the postgame media session, but his teammates reiterated that they weren't surprised to see him respond as he did Saturday.

"He's a great player. Great players make great plays. We have a great belief in him," Ellis said.

Said point guard Ethan Anderson: "I see how he works out every single day and the big step that he's made, so we really trust in him, we trust in a lot of our guys to make those plays down the stretch. I know he was upset the other night, the free throws he missed, I could tell, so he put in the extra work this time and he really came through big at the end there."

While the Stanford loss was a disappointment -- especially to be swept by the Cardinal this season -- Enfield noted that his team has played five games in 10 days and finished 4-1 in that stretch

"It's our fifth game in 10 days. I am very tired. I know our players are and our staff," he said. "Spent a lot of time watching video and preparing and then go play games, so credit to our players -- they went 4-1 in this stretch. We were 20 seconds away from being 5-0 the other night, but that margin of winning and losing sometimes is very minimal."

Early on, it looked like the Trojans' fatigue -- or whatever it was that contributed to yet another slow start -- might be their undoing in this one.

Cal (9-12, 2-8) led by 11 points three times midway through the first half before the Trojans started to rally back with a heavy dose of Mobley.

Mobley scored on a second-chance opportunity, Andre Kelly answered for Cal, Mobley then fed Ellis, who took it strong to the hole for a layup, Mobley got to the foul line the next possession and hit two free throws, and the next time down court he dribbled under the basket before changing direction for a short reverse layup, drew the foul and hit another free throw.

The Trojans were still down 24-18 at that point, but they -- and Mobley -- were heating up.

A little later, Anderson turned a steal at midcourt into a quick layup, Ellis made two free throws, Reese Dixon-Waters made one of two foul shots and then Mobley scored again with another strong take inside. He missed the ensuing foul shot but the Cal lead was cut to 27-26.

Dixon-Waters soon tied it at 28-28 on a pair of free throws, Anderson hit a mid-range jumper on a handoff from Mobley, Cal got a 3-pointer from Makale Foreman a couple of possessions later and then Mobley buried a 3 from the right wing for an immediate answer to push the Trojans' lead back to 35-31.

USC would go into the half up 41-35 and never trail again, though Cal never quite went away either.

Jordan Shepherd cut the Cal deficit to 67-65 on a floater with a little more than 3 minutes remaining before Mobley answered again, backing down a defender, spinning and banking it in.

Ellis added a layup and free throw to make it a 5-point game, Foreman scored on a second-chance opportunity for Cal to cut it back to 3, and Mobley answered again. After having his shot blocked, USC retained possession on an out-of-bounds call and gave it back to Mobley, who lowered his shoulder and rattled in another key basket inside to make it 74-69 with just over a minute left to play.

"There was a lot of contact down there and he used his body and we got a lucky bounce. After all the shots that Cal was making, we were due for one," Enfield joked.

Cal kept firing, but USC went 5 of 6 from the foul line in the final 22 seconds as Max Agbonkpolo hit 1 of 2 and Drew Peterson made each of his last 4 attempts to seal the win.

In addition to Mobley's big night, Enfield praised Ellis' efficient offensive performance and Anderson's all-around contributions.

"He played under control and used his speed tonight to get to the rim, he made 3s ... he was really good today," Enfield said of Ellis, who brushed aside his season-best scoring performance.

"I felt like it was a good game, but I feel like I could give more so I'm just going to continue getting better," Ellis said.

As for Anderson, he had scored just 2 points over the last three games while playing just 8 minutes in that loss to Stanford. He responded with 4 points and 5 assists with 0 turnovers over 30 minutes Saturday. USC had just 4 turnovers as a team.

"He controlled the game with his toughness and his ball-handling. ... Ethan had 5 assists and no turnovers, he made a big layup, he made a pull-up jumpshot. We don't need him to score a lot because he's our best guard defender. He knows where to be. And he played great," Enfield said. "Ethan has started every other game here forever and this is what we need him to do. Like Ethan and the other guys, when they play well they play more minutes, and if you don't someone else is going to play. Ethan, if he can play like this, it's hard to take him off the court."

Anderson acknowledged he was pressing a little bit of late and not playing how he needs to play for this team.

"My main goal is to control the game. Earlier this season I was shooting the ball exceptionally well and that's something that I really worked on, but it's not something I wanted to depend my game on. So I think in this stretch where I was struggling I would only depend on 3-point shots, and that's something I improved on definitely, but as you've seen in my career that's not how I majorly affect the game," he said.

"I think it's more me being able to control the game, get guys the right shots and play defense, which I love to do. So yeah, this was a really good game for me. I needed this mentally just because I know how much I can bring to the team, I know how much my teammates trust me, and I feel like I can make the game easier for all of our guys."

The Trojans needed this game collectively, and while it wasn't always pretty, a win is a win and, as Enfield noted, picking up four wins over these last 10 days is a nice stretch for a team that seemed to be facing a midseason crossroads of sorts.

NOTES: Foreman led Cal with 13 points, while Kelly, Shepherd and Jalen Celestine each scored 12. Cal shot 50 percent overall for the game.