USC falls short of reaching Pac-12 Tournament semifinals

USC lost Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Tournament 77-72 after the team failed to match the early attack of Arizona State. USC had not lost to ASU since February of 2020, even winning their last matchup only six days ago. Despite entering into the game as the No. 3 seed with a 14-6 conference record, the Trojans failed to overtake the No. 6 seed Sun Devils and will not move on in the tournament.

“We got off to a slow start, tough week at practice, a lot of guys injured and sick this week, so we look like a team that didn’t practice for four days,” USC head coach Andy Enfield said. “We played hard the second half, came back late in the game and fell short. Our guys have had a great season so far. It’s disappointing losing our conference tournament.”

The game began with three unanswered baskets by ASU. T-Mobile Arena was filled with the chants of battling student sections. Fifth-year guard Desmond Cambridge Jr. was the first on the board with two baskets to his name. Junior guard DJ Horne followed his teammate’s lead with his own 3-pointer to extend their lead 8-0 at the beginning of the first half.

“We got sped up, we tried to force a lot of stuff,” USC sophomore guard Kobe Johnson said. “It cost us a lot of possessions in the first half, which led to them coming out and hitting shots.”

A foul by sophomore guard Frankie Collins gave USC the ball, and the first Trojan to score was Freshman guard Tre White. After four minutes of play, White was the only player on the board. With little urgency to match the relentless scoring of the Sun Devils, the Trojans played the entire game two steps behind ASU.

“In the first half, they wanted it more than us. We came out flat. They got a lot of offensive rebounds. They just wanted it more than us tonight. That’s my job as a leader to get the guys going, and I didn’t do a great job of that,” said USC senior guard Boogie Ellis. “We fought better in the second half, but in the first half, we can’t play like that and expect to win.”

Fifth-year guard Drew Peterson had been battling back issues and did not score until only nine minutes remained in the first half. Peterson, who averages 14.1 points and 6.3 rebounds for the season, only had nine points with two assists against ASU.

“We have had a lot of injuries this year,” Enfield said. “We have had a lot of adversity this year with our roster, that’s why I am so proud. This has been the most improved team we have had in a long time, maybe ever in the ten years I’ve been here as head coach. To see where they’ve come from the beginning of the year to the end, it’s really impressive.”

A pair of four-minute scoreless droughts frustrated the Trojans, but the fight was far from over. A 3-pointer from Ellis ended one of the droughts. The few and far between responses from USC were no match for the Sun Devils. ASU controlled the game, extending their lead to 17 points during the second half.

“We just didn’t take care of the ball. We got to do a better job of taking care of the ball as a team,” Ellis said. “In March, every possession counts. We tried to chop that tree down, but we just kept turning over the ball.”

USC’s leading scorers were no match for Cambridge Jr., who dominated the court with 27 points. Whenever the Trojans inched closer to the lead, Cambridge Jr.’s 3-point daggers maintained the upper hand. Having lost both games against USC this season by the skin of its teeth, ASU refused to surrender the lead the entire game.

Ellis, who averaged 18.1 points this season, only scored 15 points for the Trojans. Sophomore guard Reese Dixon-Waters led the team with 16 points. The pace and accuracy USC played with in the last few minutes of the game closed the gap to only four points, but ultimately USC found their rhythm too late. Both Ellis and Johnson fouled out in the last minute of the game.

“To have six players recognized in all-conference voting, it’s a credit to them because they deserve it, they went out and earned it and improved as a team,” Enfield said. “So where that puts us on Sunday, that’s not my decision, but I’m very proud as a head coach of what these guys have accomplished.”

After beating USC for the first time this season, ASU moves on to face rival Arizona in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals. The Trojans will wait until Sunday to learn their NCAA tournament fate.