USC men’s basketball beat Utah in a well-fought game on the road 62-49 on Saturday.
After tough consecutive losses to Oregon and Oregon State, the Trojans have been a bubble team for several weeks. But the strong victory against Utah should bolster USC’s tournament chances.
Defense was the name of the game, and sophomore guard Kobe Johnson led the Trojans with 3 steals and countless possessions of gritty defense.
“He’s one of the best defenders in the country,” senior guard Boogie Ellis said. “He does all the stuff that doesn’t show up on the statsheet.”
Freshman forward Vincent Iwuchukwu and redshirt junior forward Joshua Morgan were dominant paint presences, and each recorded 3 blocks.
“We have those garbage guys that don’t really care about points,” Ellis said. “They do the little things that don’t show up on the stats.”
The Trojans’ paint defense caused Utah to struggle, going 20-for-63 (31.7%) from the field.
USC also defended well on the perimeter, and the Utes made 5 of 22 (22.7%) 3-point attempts. This is in large part due to the stingy defense provided by Ellis and freshman guard Tre White.
“A lot of our players have matured and grown,” Head Coach Andy Enfield said. “We’re a much better team than we were in November and early December. We didn’t have any experience other than Drew and Boogie.”
The Trojans performed well on offense too. They took advantage of weak points in the Utes’ defense.
In the first half, USC shot lights-out from 3-point range, shooting 8-of-15 (53.3%). This helped give them a 34-28 lead at halftime.
“You have to take what the defense gives you. We’ve been saying all along we need to shoot more threes as a team,” Enfield said. “I thought it was great that we got 15 up.”
However, the Utes adjusted at halftime and defended the 3-point shot much better in the second half. The Trojans adapted and put the ball near the paint more. They shot 7-of-14 (50%) on 2-point attempts.
“The second half we didn’t get as many [threes] up,” Enfield said. “They made some adjustments, and we had to do some other things.”
Ellis led the Trojans with 16 points on 6-of-12 (50%) shooting from the field and 4-of-8 (50%) shooting from deep.
“I want to lead this team, and all my hard work is showing,” Ellis said. “I’m reading to make a run with this team.”
Fifth-year guard Drew Peterson and Johnson also contributed offensively with 14 and 12 points, respectively.
“[Drew] punishes defenders with his post moves and finds shooters,” Ellis said.
The Trojans maintained a single-digit lead for almost the entire game. The win was never sealed until the clock showed “00:00,” as USC struggled to go on large runs and pull away.
USC will return to Galen Center to face No. 7 Arizona on Thursday. Although the Trojans are on a four-game winning streak and improved to 21-8 on the season, the threat of a single loss and its potential consequences leaves no room for comfort. They may need to take down the Wildcats to secure a spot in March.