USC had an opportunity to seize a statement win last weekend on the road against a top-10 Arizona team, up 6 points with about 6:30 to play, but the Trojans couldn't hold onto it. Veteran guard Drew Peterson sort of personified the frustration on that night with a season-worst 1-for-13 shooting performance.

Coach Andy Enfield still recites the stats a week later, that Peterson and fellow starting guard Boogie Ellis combined to go 4 of 25 from the field. He still recounts in vivid details a particularly excruciating possession in which the Trojans had multiple clean looks at the rim and couldn't get anything to go in.

That missed opportunity lingered with this team.

So as Enfield met with his assistant coaches early Saturday in advance of the No. 21-ranked Trojans' rivalry showdown with No. 12 UCLA, after finding out that forward Isaiah Mobley -- the team's leading scorer and rebounder -- would not be cleared to play due to "lingering concussion symptoms," the staff rallied around an optimistic thought.

"We said we're kind of due for one of these. You can't do what we did last week," Enfield shared later.

Indeed, the Trojans would not let this opportunity to make a statement against another highly-ranked opponent slip away -- even if it got a little tense at the end again.

An errant inbounds pass in the final 2 seconds gave UCLA's Tyger Campbell one last potential game-tying heave from long distance, but it sailed just a couple inches too long, clanking off the back iron to cue the Trojans' celebration.

And it was only fitting that Peterson played the role of catalyst in this reversal of fates, making 9 of his first 11 shots Saturday night while finishing with a season-high 27 points, 12 rebounds, 5 blocks and 4 assists to lead USC to a 67-64 victory over the Bruins before a large and loud crowd inside Galen Center.

"We just said, 'Somebody has to step up.' And Drew certainly did that offensively, defensively he had 5 blocked shots, he had 12 rebounds -- he did everything. He looked like a superstar out there. He was so good," Enfield said.

If ever there was a night for the Trojans (21-4, 10-4 Pac-12) to score their best win of the season, well, this seemed appropriate.

RELATED: Watch postgame interviews with Andy Enfield, Drew Peterson and Reese Dixon-Waters

USC had declared the game a sell-out earlier in the week and later announced that it was the largest student crowd in Galen Center history -- 2,681 of the arena's loudest fans, some of whom had started forming the line to get in several hours before game time, many of whom ended up in the middle of the court bouncing up and down in celebration with the players after it was all over.

"I knew when I came here USC's a football school, but we're showing so much support over the last couple of years for our basketball program and we're hoping to make a permanent mark and leave a top 25 program for years to come," Peterson said.

"Yeah, I've never played in a game like that ... never that type of atmosphere," freshman guard Reese Dixon-Waters added.

Enfield said it was unlike anything he'd seen before in his USC tenure.

"I've been coaching a long time -- 27 years, 1994 was my first job, Milwaukee Bucks -- and this was as good an atmosphere as I can remember for a home crowd, especially our home crowd," he continued.

Enfield hasn't looked so ... giddy after a game in recent memory. The energy that reverberated through the arena was still coursing threw him afterward as he joked about never letting Chevez Goodwin throw in another late-game inbounds pass, as he playfully acknowledged the curious technical foul called on USC's Max Agbonkpolo for a dunk attempt in the final minute, and as he basked in the moment and what it meant.

This marked USC's fifth straight win over UCLA -- the longest such streak for the Trojans in the series since the early 1940s -- but more than that it's a continuation of the momentum the program has been building for a few years now, from the string of first-round draft picks, the Elite 8 run last year and the sterling record this season that was just needing some punctuation before the postseason.

It was an especially strong statement that this team, which struggled to get past lackluster West Coast Conference foe Pacific on Tuesday without Mobley, could knock off a No. 12-ranked opponent without their leader and with Ellis, another focal point of the offense, going scoreless on 0-for-7 shooting.

The Trojans found a way Saturday night, just like they have most of this season, when many didn't know what to expect from a team that lost its top two scorers, including NBA lottery pick Evan Mobley.

"This game meant a lot to our players," Enfield said. "They knew it was an important game in the Pac-12 standings, the national standings and it's a crosstown rivalry. They also knew that we have never beaten UCLA five times in a row since 80 or 90, 100 years ago. This was a big game for us for all those reasons. I cannot be more proud of these young men because of the effort and just a lot of grit today."

Said Peterson: "It's awesome to be able to put this on our resume. ... We really had to prove to ourselves that we could get a statement win like this, so beating a good ranked opponent like that it's just awesome for our momentum going into the rest of the season and March."

Peterson was quick to call it a balanced team effort and deflect praise, but really, for much of the night he was the only consistent scorer.

Goodwin chipped in 10 points and 9 rebounds, Dixon-Waters scored an efficient 10 points off the bench, Agbonkpolo had 8 points and played strong defense and Ethan Anderson added in 7 points while handling the ball cleanly.

But the Trojans don't win this one without the best game of Peterson's two seasons in the program.

"I was really happy for Drew because when he's confident and he's playing with that level of intensity he's awfully hard to stop," Enfield said.

Peterson had to rediscover that confidence after an ice cold offensive stretch in which he scored 7 or less points in three straight games while shooting a combined 3 of 23 from the field.

Two games after that nadir vs. Arizona, Peterson almost couldn't miss, hitting his first four 3-pointers, draining his turnaround jumpers and keeping USC in a comfortable position the whole game.

"My teammates keep telling me to shoot. I was 1 of 13 in the Arizona game and I was passing up 3s the other day against Pacific, but my coaches and my teammates trust me to shoot and thankfully I was knocking them down tonight and I was feeling really confident," he said. "That's something I've had to work through and obviously I've got my confidence back and a little bit of swagger."

Oh, there was some swagger -- we'll get to that.

After leading much of the game, USC found itself trailing 45-41 with under 12 minutes to play. It seemed like the game could pivot either way at that point, but as they had done all night the Trojans responded again.

Agbonkpolo dropped in a short floater, blocked UCLA's Johnny Juzang in the paint on the other end and then hit a short jumper as Anderson fed him the ball from under the basket. That tied the game at 45-45 and quelled any momentum the Bruins (17-5, 9-4) might have been building.

Dixon-Waters later converted a couple free throws before UCLA's David Singleton knocked down a 3 to put the visitors up again, 48-47.

Immediately, USC struck back, as Peterson found Anderson, who drained a high-arching 3 from just left of the top of the key, putting the Trojans back ahead.

After a couple of empty possessions, Peterson struck again with a crossover dribble and mid-range jumper, and Anderson followed with a driving fastbreak layup for a 54-48 Trojans lead, prompting an immediate UCLA timeout.

It was later back to a 3-point game when Peterson delivered the best of his many highlights -- a step-back 3 from the right side as he held his hand in the air and watched it swish through the net for a 57-51 lead with 5:15 to play.

He'd soon follow with two free throws after diving for a loose ball and drawing the foul, sinking both to make it an 8-point game.

It looked like the Trojans were going to close out the game with no dramatics when Peterson again pushed the lead 8 with two more free throws, making it 65-57 with 41 seconds left.

After a Campbell basket, Agbonkpolo was loose on a fastbreak but he missed the dunk and drew the curious technical foul in the process. That kept the Bruins in the game a little longer.

Juzang made the ensuing free throw, Campbell then drove into the paint and drew a foul, making two more foul shots to close the gap to 65-62 with 17.8 seconds to play.

After Harrison Hornery turned it over for USC, the Bruins had a chance to tie, but Campbell turned it right back over, leaving his feet for a shot and then trying to pass it away only to have Dixon-Waters go to floor to come up with the ball and feed Agbonkpolo for a fastbreak layup.

Still, the Bruins wouldn't go away, though.

Juzang quickly got the line for two free throws with 2.0 seconds left, making both to again draw UCLA within 3, leading to Goodwin's inbounding misadventure. His throw in got deflected near halfcourt and ended up in the hands of Campbell, who launched the final heave toward the rim before the packed crowd inside Galen Center could finally exhale.

"Obviously, I know what's happened the last few years with game-winners [for USC vs. UCLA]. That would have tied it, but I was right behind him so I honestly thought it was in, and I was like 'Oh my gosh, this is about to hit overtime,' but it hit back rim thankfully," Peterson said.

Enfield joked that he was too mad about the inbounds pass to see what was happening until the ball was well on its way.

Overall, though, he had no complaints as his team held UCLA to 30.2-percent shooting with only Campbell (27 points, including hitting 13 of 14 free throws) the only of the Bruins' bevy of scorers to really have a big night.

"It took a team effort and we're very happy for them," Enfield said, the adrenaline still pulsing through him during his postgame press conference.

It seemed no coincidence that one this night, with this crowd against this opponent, one which has brought out the best in USC in recent years, that the Trojans delivered their most impressive win of a generally impressive season.

And, again, it was only fitting that Peterson, left to wonder what if just one or two more of those 13 shots vs. Arizona last week had gone in, could play the starring role in this one, surrounded on the court afterward by the jubilant crowd celebrating the moment with him.

"It was crazy. I've never been in one of those situations. You could just feel all the energy and obviously it all burst with everybody coming down and storming the court. You could see it on everybody's face," he'd say afterward. "... It's honestly one of the best basketball experiences I've ever been a part of."