BOULDER, Colo. -- Chimezie Metu's foul late against Cal helped sink USC's chances of beating the Golden Bears last week.

Given the chance at redemption, the sophomore came through for the Trojans against Colorado.

Metu scored a career-high 24 points and altered George King's go-ahead-shot attempt with 15 seconds left, and No. 25 USC beat the Buffaloes 71- 68 on Sunday night.

Elijah Stewart had 11 points, including two key free throws with 12.4 seconds left, as the Trojans (16-3, 3-3 Pac-12) earned a split of their weekend road trip.

King led the Buffaloes with 16 points and nine rebounds. Xavier Johnson finished with 15 points for Colorado (10-8, 0-5).

"It's really big," Metu said of the win. "We've struggled on the road for the past two years. It's a tough place to play, the altitude, the fans are great, it's a big win."

Metu became the hero in this one after his foul on Cal's Ivan Rabb with 5.2 seconds left led to the winning free throws in a 74-73 loss. This time, Metu played solid defense and forced King into a bad shot after he had given USC a 69-68 lead.

"Coach has been preaching just learn from my mistakes," Metu said. "I fouled Rabb on a hook shot at the end of the game. I just stayed vertical on this one and it worked out for us."

The Trojans' defense helped them survive, going 7:09 without a basket in the second half. In fact, they increased their lead from 57-55 to 64-58 in the stretch by hitting free throws and clamping down on Colorado.

"They didn't let their missed shots affect the defense," USC coach Andy Enfield said. "It'd be nice if we could make a few shots and make it easier on ourselves but we didn't. Somehow we have three conference wins with not shooting the ball great."

The Trojans, who were only 3 for 19 from 3-point range on the night, got a big one from Jonah Mathews with 2:44 left to put them up 67-60 and force Colorado to call timeout.

The Buffaloes responded with an 8-0 run capped by a 3-pointer by Johnson from the top of the circle that beat the shot clock buzzer to give them a 68-67 lead with 43.1 seconds left.

Metu answered with a turnaround hook with 29 seconds remaining and then blocked King's path to the basket to force a bad shot. Stewart was fouled and calmly hit two free throws.

Colorado called a timeout but King's desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer was off, spoiling the junior's 23rd birthday.

"It's supposed to go in but it didn't this time," King said. "It did in seventh grade, but not this time."

The game was tight throughout the second half after USC went ahead 45-43 on Mathews' 3-pointer with 15:56 left.

The Trojans led 60-57 after a free throw by Stewart with 7:52 left but neither team could score for more than two minutes. Stewart's two free throws made it 62-57 before Johnson hit 1 of 2 foul shots with 5:19 left.

The Buffaloes led by as many as 11 in the first half but USC, behind Metu, was able to cut it to 35-34 at halftime. Metu scored eight of his 20 first-half points in an 11-4 run after Colorado went up 28-20.

"At halftime we should have been up 10," Colorado coach Tad Boyle said. "We were shooting 50 percent but we had 11 turnovers."

NOTES: USC G Shaqquan Aaron briefly left the game holding his midsection late in the first half but returned before intermission. ... Colorado is now 2-3 against ranked teams this season. ... The Trojans are 2-7 against the Buffaloes in Pac-12 play and 1-5 in Boulder. ... Chimezie Metu's career high was 21 set Jan. 13, 2016, against UCLA.