Nikola Vucevic scored a career-high 24 points and added nine rebounds Sunday as host USC improved its non-conference resume with a dominant 73-56 win over No. 20 Texas in the Big 12-Pac-10 Hardwood Series.

USC (5-4) never trailed in the game and led 35-27 at halftime, with Vucevic scoring 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Senior forward Alex Stephenson added a double-double (14 points and 11 rebounds) for USC, which led 58-44 with 7:18 remaining. Guards Maurice Jones and Marcus Simmons scored 12 and 11 points, respectively.

In his return to his hometown, Texas’ Jordan Hamilton finished with 12 points on 4-of-13 shooting, well below his team-high 21.7 average entering the game. J’Covan Brown led the Longhorns (6-2) with 17 points. Texas freshman Cory Joseph averaged 15 points in his last two games, but he scored just nine on 3-of-10 shooting against USC.

Coming off consecutive losses at Nebraska and TCU, the Trojans viewed the Texas matchup as a chance to capture a marquee nonconference win. The Pac-10 entered Sunday’s action with a 1-9 record against nonconference foes, but the Texas win should help USC later in the season.

After giving up a season-high 81 points to TCU last week, USC held Texas to 18-of-56 (32.1 percent) shooting from the field.