Headline: USC improves to 3-1 after 2nd-half offense comes alive to take down Mount St. Mary’s
Subheadline: The Trojans still look to improve three-point shooting after going 7-for-22.
Two days after Isaiah Collier, the No. 1 recruit in the nation, committed to USC, the Trojans were tested against a weak Mount St. Mary’s team. The Trojan offense struggled in the first half but found a rhythm in the second, as senior guard Boogie Ellis led the way with 19 points.
That second-half offensive push helped USC beat Mount St. Mary’s 83-74 on Friday at Galen Center.
By starting four guards, USC tried to rely on the three-point shot. But that strategy wasn’t successful, as it went 2-for-11 from three-point range in the first half.
But the Trojans adapted and focused on inside scoring. Eighteen of their 32 points in the first half were scored in the paint.
Redshirt junior forward Joshua Morgan led the Trojans in first-half scoring, racking up nine points on 4-of-5 shooting. All four baskets were dunks, including back-to-back slams in the middle of the half.
Morgan also scored on an alley-oop assisted by Ellis with 1:52 left in the half, breaking a near four-minute scoring drought for USC.
“There’s a little bit of inconsistency with everybody,” USC head coach Andy Enfield said in reference to the USC offense.
USC gave itself good looks with second-chance opportunities, racking up eight offensive rebounds compared to the Mountaineers’ three. But the Trojans only recorded six points off second chances.
Overall, the Trojans had an ugly half offensively. They shot 11-for-29 from the field, compared to the Mountaineers’ 12-for-28.
The half remained tight; it finished with the Trojans leading 32-28, and each team’s largest lead being four points.
Ellis gave USC the spark it needed to improve its shooting from deep, going 3-for-5 in the second half. He finished the game shooting 5-for-12 from the field and 4-for-8 from three. He has now recorded over 1,000 collegiate points in his career.
“One thousand points is a really great milestone, and it’s nice to do that early into your senior year,” Enfield said. “He has a long way to go here to try to lead us to be a team captain [and] be a leader the rest of the season.”
As a team, the Trojans shot 15-for-27 from the field and 5-for-11 from 3-point range in the second half, recording 51 points.
USC defended well, as Mount St. Mary’s shot 13-for-40 from the field in the second half. No team has shot over 38% from the field against the Trojans this year.
“We’re defending. We’re challenging shots,” Enfield said. “But it’s our offense that has affected our performance. And it is frustrating when you have so many open shots and none of them go in.”
The Trojans drew 15 fouls in the second half and capitalized, going 16-for-20 from the charity stripe. Free throw shooting was a strength the entire game, as they went 24-for-32 .
“We definitely tried to get to the foul line,” Enfield said. “We attacked the basket. We put pressure on their defense. And then we made our free throws.”
Morgan continued his success in the second half. After the Mountaineers cut the deficit to two points at the beginning of the second half, Morgan gave the Trojans some momentum with a key layup. Through the next 10 minutes, the Trojans went on a 25-12 run and reached a 15-point lead.
Morgan finished the game with 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting, 12 rebounds and five blocks.
“He’s always gonna block shots and rebound, and then it’s our job to get him the ball,” Ellis said about Morgan. “We want him to score and look to score because we need that inside presence in the paint.
The Trojans had great ball movement throughout the game, and fifth-year senior Drew Peterson led the team with 12 assists.
“We keep trying to space the floor really well, and Boogie is always in the right spot and was able to knock down those shots, especially late-game,” Peterson said.
USC now travels to the Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament next week, opening with a matchup against a tougher BYU team on Wednesday at 2 p.m. The Trojans will hope to extend their three-game win streak to make a good impression on Collier and the rest of their 10th-ranked 2023 recruiting class.