USC continues its offensive hot streak in decisive win over Colorado

In years past, the CU Events Center had been a house of horrors for the USC men’s basketball team, a program that had lost eight of its 11 games in Boulder. This year, the Trojans had been 3-5 on the road, losing five of their last six games away from Galen Center. On Thursday night, none of that mattered, as USC stomped the Colorado Buffaloes 84-65.

After averaging 91 points per game in its most recent home stand, USC’s offense picked up right where it left off in the first half. The Trojans were lethal from beyond the 3-point line, making 5 of their first 7 3-pointers. USC finished with 8 3-point makes from five different players.

The Trojans’ effective shooting was not limited to long range, as they shot 63% from the field against the Buffaloes in the first 20 minutes. The biggest asset for the USC offense was its balance, as seven different players scored points — five of whom had a shooting percentage of 62% or better.

Leading the way offensively for the Trojans was senior guard Boogie Ellis. Ellis got to the rim at will in the early going and established his jump shot as the game progressed. He finished with a game-high 21 points, scoring his first 8 on layups and free throws and his next 6 on 2 3-point makes.

While many players in a USC uniform had great offensive days, Ellis may have hit the biggest shot of the game in the second half. Six minutes out of the halftime break, Colorado had ripped off an 8-0 run thanks to two 3-pointers by graduate guard Ethan Wright and a fast-break dunk by sophomore center Lawson Lovering. The run cut the Trojan lead to 8 points.

The home crowd was as energized as it had been since the opening tip, but Ellis calmly took the ball down the court to the left elbow. He then hit a mid-range shot to silence the fans and bring the USC lead back to double-digits. After that shot, the Trojans never led by fewer than 9.

In his second game back from injury, sophomore guard Reese Dixon-Waters was an offensive standout as well. Dixon-Waters had 15 points off the bench, his largest scoring output since January 5, and shot 5-of-8 from the floor with 2 3-pointers. He was USC’s spark plug offensively throughout the game, shooting efficiently from mid range and long distance.

“[Dixon-Waters has] played great since his injury,” Head Coach Andy Enfield said after the game. “He played really well in our last game against Stanford at home in his first game back. He had a great week of practice as well. He just has calmed down, he’s making quick decisions, the right decisions, he was terrific.”

Ellis and Dixon-Waters were just two of the five Trojans in double figures. Sophomore guard Kobe Johnson scored 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting, freshman guard Tre White was 4-of-5 from the field with 10 points and fifth-year guard Drew Peterson contributed 11. Johnson also led the team in rebounds with 7. USC had just 9 turnovers, the 12th time in its last 13 games it has kept its turnover number to 12 or fewer.

“I’m very proud of our team for sharing the ball, making plays and making shots,” Enfield said. “Our players really drove the ball and made the right play. It was very impressive.”

The Trojans’ shooting cooled off as the game progressed. They missed nine of 10 3-pointers after a 6-of-8 start, but the Buffaloes struggled too much offensively to make it matter. USC held Colorado to 36% shooting in the game and 21% on 3-pointers. The Buffaloes had four separate sequences in this game of missing at least 5 field goals in a row, while the Trojans did not miss more than 3 straight shots the entire night.

The key to USC’s defense success was outstanding guard play. Whether it was Johnson, White or Peterson defending the perimeter, the Trojans consistently kept the basketball in front of them and contested just about every jump shot.

The game plan was especially effective on Colorado’s leading scorer, junior forward Tristan da Silva. He averaged over 16 points per game heading into this matchup, but only mustered 6 in this game on 2-of-9 shooting, while missing all 4 of his 3-point attempts.

“Whether we doubled [da Silva], or we didn’t, we switched on him, did a lot of different things, and mixed it up throughout the game,” Enfield said. “I give our guys credit; they listened to the scout. Kobe Johnson is the best defensive player in the Pac-12, so he did a tremendous job. We switched a lot on him, and so it was a team effort. You don’t hold da Silva down like that without everybody being engaged and doing their job.”

The Buffaloes’ best source of offense early on was in the paint. Lovering was 3-of-3 from the field in the first half due to some missed assignments leaving him alone under the rim, but his teammates did not have the same sort of success near the basket.

Colorado was short on a series of late attempts at the rim towards the end of the half, and finished just 8-of-17 on layups in the period. Eighteen of its 30 points came in the paint in the first half, but USC cleaned up its defense down low during the break and held Colorado to just 12 in the paint in the second.

Because of the effectiveness of the Trojan offense, the Buffaloes’ cold spells led to multiple devastating scoring runs. USC’s biggest was a 10-0 run after the midway point of the second half that spanned almost three minutes, ballooning its lead from 9 to 19, and putting the game on ice.

This win serves as an important milestone for USC; it is the first time in program history that the program has won 20 games four years in a row. The Trojans improve to 20-9 on the season and 12-5 in the Pac-12. They will play their final road game of the regular season on Saturday evening against the Utah Utes.