So much for coming up with a little late season magic.

After the dramatic ups and downs of a wildly inconsistent season, the Colorado men’s basketball team hoped a run of three consecutive home games to close the regular season might give the Buffaloes a chance to light a spark going into the Pac-12 Con- ference tournament.

USC thought otherwise.

Unable to slow a hot-shooting USC team the entire night, CU dropped an 84-65 decision on Thursday night at the CU Events Center. It was the Buffs’ third loss in the past four games, while the Trojans secured a two-game regular-season sweep of CU for the first time since the 2017-18 season.

The Trojans took control with a 13-2 run in the first half, eventually building a 43-30 halftime lead. USC pushed its advantage to 17 points with 14 minutes, 59 seconds remaining when the Buffs attempted to make a run, scoring eight consecutive points in an 11-2 run.

CU got within nine points on several occasions in the middle of the second half, but USC put the game away with a 12-1 run that gave the Trojans a 73-53 lead.

While USC was hot from the opening tip, shooting .630 in the first half before finishing with a .569 mark, the Buffs once again struggled to find a rhythm offensively. Point guard KJ Simpson finished with 18 points, but leading scorer Tristan da Silva was held to six points on a 2-for-9 night from the field.

With Jalen Gabbidon (concussion) and Javon Ruffin (knee) sidelined, CU coach Tad Boyle gave redshirt freshman Quincy Allen his first meaningful playing time of the season. Allen went 2-for-8 with seven points and four blocked shots. CU (15-14, 7-11 Pac-12) finished 6-for-28 on 3-pointers while the Trojans went 8- for-19.