Trojans fall short in overtime on Bronny James’ debut

Freshman guard Bronny James’ debut for the USC Trojans was spoiled by Long Beach State, with the Trojans falling 84-79 in overtime Sunday afternoon at Galen Center, their second consecutive loss. It was James’s first game back since suffering cardiac arrest in July during summer practices.

“It’s not ideal. We did that to ourselves,” head coach Andy Enfield said. “This team is developing, and we have to get better ways to get better in certain areas.”

Long Beach State fifth-year guard Marcus Tsohonis led all scorers with 28 points, hitting a clutch jumper with 3.9 seconds left to send the game to overtime.

In his first start of the year, USC sophomore center Vince Iwuchukwu had a season-high in points (15) on an efficient 7-for-8 from the field.

“I thought Vince gave us good offense today,” Enfield said. “He played hard and gave us great energy.”

In his debut, USC freshman guard Bronny James had three points, three rebounds, and two assists, plus one chase-down block.

“I’m thankful for everything,” James said. " I want to give appreciation to everyone that’s helped me through this.”

“I thought he played well. He defended at a high level,” Enfield said of James.

For the first time this season, the Galen Center was sold out, with fans arriving two hours before tipoff to get a seat. In attendance for Bronny’s debut were his father, Lebron James, and Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka.

“It felt like the UCLA game,” fifth-year guard Boogie Ellis said.

The Trojans came out hot to start the game, establishing a solid offensive presence early. Iwuchukwu was a problem in the paint, scoring four fast points to get the offense rolling.

A pair of steals from freshman guard Isisiah Collier (3) and junior forward Kobe Johnson (4) in the first half allowed the Trojans to get in transition and create 20 points off the turnovers.

At 12:58 in the first half, James stepped on the court for the first time in his college career and was met with a standing ovation from the crowd.

The Trojans had all the momentum going into halftime, leading by 15 points.

Long Beach found new life to open the second half with a 5-0 run. The Trojans couldn’t answer the Long Beach offense in the second half, allowing the Beach to get back into the game.

“I was disappointed in our energy that we started the second half. … We missed some wide-open shots to start,” Enfield said. “They were flat on defense, and [Long Beach] just had more energy to start the second half.”

Long Beach profited from the poor shooting from the Trojans in the second half, who shot just 36% from the field. At 7:23 in the second half, Long Beach took their first lead, 62-61.

“I feel like we’re lackadaisical on defense, including myself. We had no resistance,” Ellis said. “We just got to be better.”

The achilles’ heel for USC in Sunday’s loss was the poor shooting from the free throw line. They shot 55% from the line and missed some critical free throws in the final minutes.

“Some very good shooters missed free throws today,” Enfield said. “It’s a very frustrating sequence when you keep missing free shots.”

The Trojans had a chance to win at the end of regulation with the game tied at 74, but a blocked Collier shot attempt resulted in overtime. Ellis had a chance to take it himself but opted to pass it out to Collier for a 3-point attempt.

“I don’t know why [Boogie] didn’t take the ball to the basket,” Enfield said. “It wasn’t designed [for a pass]. It was for him.”

In overtime, USC’s offense struggled to find their shots, shooting 17% from the field. A few scores from Long Beach sophomore forward AJ George and guard Tsohonis sealed an upset win for the Beach.

USC has lost two of its four games to Big West Conference teams this season and now holds a 5-4 record in 10th place in the Pac-12.

The Trojans head to the road for a four-game stretch, starting with a trip to Auburn to take on the Tigers next Sunday at 10 a.m. PST.