Led by senior guard Boogie Ellis, USC beat Washington on the road 80-67 on Friday.
Ellis finished with 27 points on 10-of-19 shooting and added seven boards in the fast-paced affair.
“He made some tough shots, he got to the rim and made a couple of long threes,” head coach Andy Enfield said of Ellis. “We called a couple of plays for him, and he executed.”
The first half began with two rapidly moving offenses exchanging baskets. Redshirt junior forward Joshua Morgan was used heavily inside during transition and finished the game with 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting to go along with five rebounds and five blocks. Going into the game, Morgan led the Pac-12 with 37 rebounds this season.
“He just puts his hands up, he talls up, he blocks it, he’s got great timing,” Enfield said of Morgan. “So I know the dunks were awesome, and he played really well offensively, but the five blocks and the challenging of another nine or 10 shots were so important for our team, especially when we play four guards like we did … the whole game”
Fifth-year senior guard Drew Peterson and freshman guard Tre White also scored double-digit points — with Peterson racking up 17 on 5-of-13 shooting and White posting 12 points and going 3-of-4. Both were effective from the free throw line, with Peterson nailing seven of eight free throws and White making six of seven.
White’s presence was also felt via his physicality as he led the Trojans with five offensive rebounds. As a team, USC grabbed 18 boards on offense, leading to 16 second-chance points.
“When they play zone, they don’t really box out because they’re not guarding a particular man,” Enfield said. “So we worked on, the last couple days, running against their zone defense, trying to tip the ball if we couldn’t rebound it.”
USC maintained a slight lead most of the game, and the Huskies trailed by two with one minute to go in the first half. A 5-0 run to end the half put USC up 41-34 going into halftime and gave the Trojans the momentum they hoped for.
The second half closely resembled the first with both offenses going back-and-forth. The Huskies didn’t allow the Trojans to pull away and eventually Washington went on a 10-0 run, taking a three-point lead with 10 minutes left.
Ellis and Peterson came alive and led the Trojan offense in the second half. They combined for 29 of USC’s 39 second-half points and helped the Trojans regain the lead.
Right after Washington’s 10-0 run, USC retaliated with an 8-0 run and never looked back. The Trojans’ lead never dropped below five points the rest of the game.
“We just told them that they had to play harder and smarter, and they came out and really did a great job the last seven, eight, nine minutes of the game,” Enfield said.
Even in such a fast-paced game, the Trojans displayed a quality defensive effort. Washington shot 22-for-68 (32.4%) from the field, including 9-for-27 (33.3%) from 3-point range. USC blocked 10 shots and stole the ball eight times.
USC outshot Washington, as the Trojans made 28 of 61 (45.9%) attempts from the field and five of 14 (35.7%) from deep.
“The open part of their zone is in the middle and on the baseline … so we attacked the rim and got to the foul line a number of times too,” Enfield said. “I thought we were aggressive and shot-faked and did our job.”
The win marks the seventh straight Trojan victory. USC is now 3-0 in Pac-12 play, marking the third time in the 21st century the Trojans have accomplished such a feat.
“Our team has improved in the last month significantly on both sides of the ball. I’m happy where we are as far as our improvement,” Enfield said. “We have to get a few other guys on the bench to give us some more bench minutes, but they’ve improved as well.”
USC will stay in the Evergreen State to battle Washington State on New Year’s Day at noon on Pac-12 Network.