USC was down by 12 at halftime against No. 8 UCLA. It didn’t matter.
USC lost by 13 points in its first game of the season to Florida Gulf Coast — a team that has a losing record in the ASUN. It didn’t matter.
Andy Enfield has created something out of nothing. In a remarkable turn of events, the head coach of the Trojans has reversed USC’s course from irrelevance to nearly a lock for the NCAA Tournament.
There have been flashes of what this team can do all season, but the Trojans are peaking at just the right time.
Back in December, USC knocked off now-No. 15 Auburn at Galen Center. It was a win that felt like more of a fluke than anything else, but it’s a formula the Trojans have now used twice against UCLA. And USC nearly came out on top both times.
The common denominator? Each of these three games started with USC down at halftime.
Then, USC did two things: tightened its defense and limited crucial turnovers.
Auburn had nine turnovers against USC in the first half. The Tigers had 14 in the second period.
UCLA had three and five turnovers in the first half against USC in both of their contests. Then, the Bruins had five and eight turnovers in the second half.
On the offensive end, USC wasn’t perfect in the second half by any means. But the Trojans managed to reduce the impact of their mistakes.
Auburn had 14 points off turnovers in the first half, and then just four after the break. UCLA had 10 in the first half and then just one in the second half during the teams’ first meeting. On Thursday, UCLA had 12 points off turnovers in the first half and only two after halftime.
These are coaching adjustments Enfield made in the locker room. A team that looked as if it was going to roll over and lose in blowout fashion rose from the ashes to make a game of each of these contests.
Performances like senior guard Boogie Ellis’ 27-point second half will be the story for the night and deservedly so. But when these comebacks appear to be so regular for this team, it’s hard not to give a lot of the credit to the coach behind everything.
Enfield gets criticized often for how his team performs in the waning minutes, and that feels justified as well. Arizona State’s 16-0 run in the final 4:35 of Saturday’s matchup is all the evidence needed to demonstrate that Enfield still has quite a bit of work to do.
But for once this season, let’s put everything into perspective and praise Enfield for how he molded an NCAA Tournament-caliber team out of a roster that was struggling against FGCU and Vermont at the beginning of the year.
From that very first loss, everyone was ready to put this season in the trash and hope the signing of No. 1 overall prospect Isaiah Collier could get this program back on track next season — myself included.
But this team has more than just signs of life. This team has a pulse and an identity.
Enfield had the luxury of a dominant start last year, primarily due to the tenacity of Isaiah Mobley. But what Enfield proved this season is he doesn’t need to rely on a star player or a strong start to get his team to where he wants them to be.
College basketball media personality Jon Rothstein always says, “His name is Dana Altman. And he aligns Rubik’s Cubes.”
Well, actually, his name is Andy Enfield. And he does just that.