USC was plagued by foul trouble, mismatches and injury in its 87-81 loss to No. 8 Arizona on Thursday night.
Senior guard Boogie Ellis led the Trojans with a career-high 35 points in their quest for a second top-10 win this season, but his persistence could not make up for the team’s issues. USC was left scrambling with fifth-year guard Drew Peterson suffering from lower back tightness and three players, including Ellis, posting at least 4 fouls.
The first player to reach foul trouble was sophomore guard Kobe Johnson, who collected his third personal foul with 9:23 left in the first half and did not return until the second half. Johnson averages 2.2 steals and 4.8 rebounds a game, and his defensive presence is one that was needed against the Wildcats.
“It’s hard without Kobe, Drew and Boogie in the first half,” Head Coach Andy Enfield said. “All three of those guys were on the bench because of foul trouble, and Drew was hurt, so that did not make it easy to beat a team like Arizona, who’s very talented.”
To combat the size of Arizona’s players and to adjust to the foul trouble, the Trojans traded their usual four-guard system for a two-forward system that consisted of redshirt junior Joshua Morgan and freshman Vincent Iwuchukwu.
“If we were to play two bigs again, Josh and Vince definitely got to get together and work on that high-low game, because they are two very good players,” Ellis said. “Josh has improved greatly offensively, and Vince is still growing obviously, but they are two great players. I feel like they could feed off of each other.”
Even with the lineup adjustments, the Wildcats’ offense could not be stopped. The Trojans had no answers for the combination of redshirt junior center Oumar Ballo and junior forward Azuolas Tubelis in the key. Tubelis had 15 points in the first half, and he seemed unstoppable until USC was able to slow him down to only 10 points in the second, which all occurred within the first eight minutes.
Against this lethal pair that had already handed USC its only loss with a fully healthy roster this season, sophomore guard Reese Dixon-Waters stepped up. Dixon-Waters only trailed Ellis and Tubelis in points, racking up 17, along with 6 defensive rebounds, 1 block and 1 steal.
“I’m definitely looking up to Boogie, also just working on my craft, watching film, trying to make smart decisions,” Dixon-Waters said. “There’s times in this game where I may have shot a shot that was a tougher shot, could’ve gotten an easier shot, but I’m just learning, watching film, just listening to my coaches.”
Ellis and Dixon-Waters, along with Johnson, led the comeback against Arizona late in the second half. With 6:59 left in the game, the outcome looked bleak for the Trojans. Arizona had its largest lead yet at 71-55. But, after a pair of threes following a pair of free throws, Ellis managed to make it a five-point game at 83-78 with 36 seconds left.
“Boogie’s matured and he’s very focused. He’s a great leader. He’s really good with his teammates,” Enfield said. “He’s a totally different player and person than he was last year when he first got here and even throughout last season to this season.”
With 19 seconds to go, Ellis fouled out, sealing the ill-fated deal for the Trojans. Johnson managed to last a little over 10 minutes with 4 fouls and made his last 3 free throws with six seconds left to end the game 87-81.
“Nobody on his team is a quitter. I’ll go to war with these guys any given day,” Ellis said. “We can play with any team in the country.”
Looking ahead, the Trojans likely must win against Arizona State at home Saturday to secure their spot in March Madness. USC locked in its spot as the No. 3 seed in the Pac-12 Tournament and will face Arizona again in the conference semifinals if both teams win their first games.
“We have to prepare starting tonight or tomorrow, very early for Arizona State, who is an exceptional team and very talented,” Enfield said. “Saturday’s a big game.”
USC will look to improve its record to 25-6 overall in its last conference game Saturday at 8 p.m.