For the first 14 minutes of action Wednesday night, USC and Utah were playing the kind of game most would expect from two teams with one combined loss entering their Pac-12 opener.

It was mostly back and forth, as both teams strung together a few scoring possessions in a row but traded baskets otherwise.

And then USC guard Boogie Ellis decided to make the game his most impressive showcase yet for the home fans in Galen Center in spurring what would ultimately be a lopsided 93-73 win.

With No. 20-ranked USC (7-0) leading 25-21 with a little more than 6 minutes left in the half, Ellis reached in to steal the ball as Jaxon Brenchley drove into the paint and turned that into a quick one-handed dunk to fire up the crowd and apparently the Trojans as well.

Because the outcome never really seemed much in doubt after that.

Isaiah Mobley made a driving layup the next time down court with a high kiss off the glass and Ellis followed by rattling in a midrange jumper. He was still just warming up at that point, though.

The teams traded points for the next 2:30 before Ellis totally took over the game.

A long 3-pointer from the left wing. A swished 3 from the right corner the next possession. And moments later, Ellis turned a bad Utah pass into another fastbreak dunk -- of the two-handed variety this time -- to push the Trojans ahead 43-26.

In all, he scored 12 points during what would be a 23-5 game-seizing run for the Trojans, who eventually went into halftime up 48-28.

"We've seen it all this year, when he gets hot, he gets hot," teammate Max Agbonkpolo said of Ellis. "So when he gets hot we try to get him the ball as much as we can because he can keep on scoring."

Ellis finished with 19 points and 4 assists on 7-of-12 shooting (4 of 7 on 3-pointers), Isaiah Mobley had 21 points and 13 rebounds on 8-of-14 shooting, Agbonkpolo scored 16, Drew Peterson had 11 and Ethan Anderson chipped in 10 points.

Utah (5-2) was led by 28 points from Both Gach and 21 from David Jenkins Jr., but overall USC held the Utes to a meager 37.7-percent shooting while continuing its consistently stellar defensive play.

The Trojans, who shot 52.2 percent overall, are off to their best start since opening 14-0 in 2016-17.

Coach Andy Enfield was asked when he could sense this could be a top-20-caliber team despite losing a NBA lottery pick in Evan Mobley and his top two scorers overall.

"Well, you just never know. Guys have to produce on the court. We have a long season ahead. We're excited to be 7-0," he said. "I think we've played a challenging schedule going on the road a couple games in some hostile environments, which were really fun. . ... And tonight we got off to a good start in the Pac-12. We have a long season to go, but we're happy with our team. I think the summer you just never know. We were so spread out this summer, a lot of guys, then we had four freshmen, Boogie came in, we had never played together, so until you get into the preseason and the regular season you just don't know."

Ellis, the transfer from Memphis, has been everything the Trojans could have hoped, averaging a team-high 15.1 points per game while shooting excellent percentages -- 54.1-percent overall from the field and 44.8 from 3-point range.

"He's an extremely good scorer -- it comes natural to him," Isaiah Mobley said.

Said Enfield: "He played really well offensively and defensively for about a 7 or 8 minute stretch. Our whole team did so I thought we really made that nice run because we were doing what we needed to do."

Agbonkpolo, meanwhile, contributed his second-best scoring line of his three-year Trojans career and his first double-digit scoring effort ever against a Pac-12 opponent. So far he's averaging 8.4 PPG, which is more than double his 3.9 from last season.

"It's just hard work. In the summer I kind of had a setback with my broken foot, that took me out for a while, and when I was out I was just in the chair with a broken foot just ball handling and shooting, so I guess that helped," he said. "But really it's just confidence for me honestly. To come in this year and have the confidence from the players and the coaches really pushes me to play better."

Agbonkpolo said he broke his foot when he landed wrong on it playing basketball in the offseason, had to have screws inserted and was out for the first half of the preseason. But the 6-foot-9 junior forward has become a key rotation piece nonetheless, playing an average of 19.1 minutes per game.

"Max gave us a huge lift. We need his scoring ability and his length and his defense and rebounding," Enfield said. "When he's not scoring he can still affect winning by his athleticism and his rebounds and deflections and steals and blocked shots. ... Tonight he was active in the second half and he gave us a big lift offensively."

As for Mobley, his 21 points and 13 rebounds were both season-highs and it was his second straight double-double.

"He was a complete player tonight -- it was great to see," Enfield said.

Utah lost its starting center Branden Carlson early to an ankle injury, limiting him to just 7 minutes of action.

Without the 7-footer, the Utes were no match for USC's size as the Trojans enjoyed a 54-26 advantage on points in the paint.

"Sadly, Carlson went down, so hopefully he gets better. He's a shot blocker, but once we went down they were kind of smaller and we knew we could use our size against them and drive the ball as well as post up," Mobley said.

Mobley was asked the same question as Enfield -- when did he know this team could play to this sustained level despite having to build a new identity without his younger brother or steady scorer Tahj Eaddy from the Elite Eight team last year.

"For me, I knew right when I came back from the [NBA draft] combine," he said. "I walked in the gym and at first I didn't practice right away. I just seen everyone -- I was like, Oh. Max, when he got back, I was like, yeah, he got better. Ethan looks good. Boogie obviously from the start has been well. Chevez [Goodwin], I was like, OK, everyone took this serious, they didn't get a championship hangover. I was like, OK, I got better, if we all can put this together then we can do something special."