The No. 16 USC Trojans lost for the first time this season Tuesday night’s matchup against the unranked UC Irvine Anteaters.
The Trojans fell to 2-1, as the Anteaters got their first win in Galen since 2012.
“We deserved to lose this game by the way we played,” head coach Andy Enfield said. “It’s on me. … We have to execute better offensively during the game.”
The Trojans shot a season-low 19% from beyond the arc, while also having 15 turnovers.
Anteaters red-shirt senior guard Justin Hohn led all scorers with 25 points.
Freshman guard Isaiah Collier led the Trojans with a career-high 23 points; however, he finished with a team-high seven turnovers.
“I feel like it’s freshman making freshman mistakes,” Collier said about his high turnover night. “I take the blame for that.”
Junior forward Harrison Hornery notched a career-high in points, with 17, and 3-pointers,with four. Hornery was the only Trojan to make a 3-pointer against UC Irvine.
“I am just trying to do whatever to help this team win,” Hornery said.
Entering the game, the Trojans were already shorthanded, battling some key injuries from the last week with Boogie Ellis, Kobe Johnson and Bronny James all out. Even Collier, who played, was battling an injury as well, keeping him out of three days of practice.
“We didn’t have a good week of practice, probably the worst week we have had in the last few years, because of injuries,” Enfield said.
The Trojans struggled all of the first half, finding themselves trailing at halftime for the first time this season, 29-26. The team could not find any rhythm from beyond the arch, shooting 18% in the first half.
“We were not locked in,” Collier said. “We didn’t start the game off with energy.”
Hohn was leading the charge early for the Anteaters, tallying 13 points in the first half. Irvine was able to disrupt any of the Trojans’ inside game in the first half, outscoring USC 10-8 in the paint.
“Hohn got hot, made some tough shots. Give him credit,” Enfield said.
Coming out of halftime, Enfield adopted to go with the hot-hand in Hornery over freshman forward Arrinten Page. However, the Anteaters picked up right where they left off, starting the second-half on a 7-0 run.
The Trojans tried a variety of mixed coverages, going in and out of man-to-man and full-court press, to get the Anteaters offense off track. However, the Trojans’ offensive woes proved to be more detrimental, finishing the game shooting 28% from the field.
“If we are scoring like we did, it doesn’t really matter if we can’t get stops on the other end,” Hornery said.
The Trojans did not lead for a single second in the 2nd half, because of 11 turnovers they surrendered in the half.
With 37 seconds left, red-shirt junior forward Devin Tillis iced the game with a corner 3-pointer to give the Anteaters a six-point lead. A failed next possession for the Trojans sealed the win for the Anteaters.
“The biggest thing we can take away is preparation,” Hornery said. “We need to prep better and take no one lightly.”
Next on the calendar for the Trojans is a home game on Sunday against Brown with tipoff at 5 p.m.