It was a tale of two halves for the USC men’s basketball team in its Saturday night road matchup against the Colorado Buffaloes. The Trojans fell to the Buffaloes 68-58 in Boulder, Colorado, after leading by 13 points at the half. Sophomore guard Oziyah Sellers led the Trojans with 18 points and freshman guard Bronny James got his first career start for USC.
The loss snapped USC’s three-game winning streak against Colorado. USC is now 7-15 all-time against Colorado and also falls to 8-9 overall this season, 2-4 within the Pac-12.
The under .500 record brings notable consequences; only three games separate the third-ranked Pac-12 team from the 10th. USC’s new 2-4 record causes it to now be tied for sixth in conference standings with the Cal Golden Bears.
The game opened with stellar defense from the Trojans. USC held Colorado to only 24 points in the first half. The Buffaloes closed the half shooting 29% from the field and 2-for-9 from behind the arc.
Twenty of the Trojans’ 37 points came from the paint and the team shot 45% from the field. USC ended the first half with only two turnovers compared to Colorado’s five.
That statistic wouldn’t remain a bright spot for long, though.
Colorado opened the second half with a newly invigorated defense. The Buffaloes’ more aggressive press defensive style led them to go on a 6-0 run in the first three minutes of the half.
Unfortunately for the Trojans, the Buffaloes’ shooting improved as well. The Buffaloes would finish the game 27-for-61 from the field compared to the Trojans’ going 22-for-61. The Trojans’ Achilles’ heel proved, once again, to be their turnovers.
Four turnovers for the Trojans in the first half turned into 10 more turnovers in the second. Colorado made 14 points off of USC’s turnovers and scored 21 fastbreak points for the night. In comparison, USC had only three fastbreak points.
Head coach Andy Enfield was pleased with the discipline and poise of the USC offense in the first half, but was left scratching his head at the Trojans’ turnovers.
“Out of those 10 turnovers [in the second half], most of them were just on us,” Enfield said. “Usually the live ball turnovers lead to transition points for the other team, and when you do it that much on their home floor, it’s tough to come back from.”
Despite the loss, two bright spots for USC were the performances from Sellers and sophomore forward Vincent Iwuchukwu. Sellers scored a career-high 18 points in 28 minutes off of the bench. Iwuchukwu scored 10 points, as well as recording seven rebounds, three assists and two blocks. James was quiet from the floor, scoring zero points in 25 minutes, but managed to avoid contributing any turnovers to USC’s total.
Enfield had nothing but praise for Sellers’ career night.
“We need that type of production off of our bench. He played really well. He played very hard and smart, very proud of him,” Enfield said.
The next opponent for the Trojans are the No. 8 Arizona Wildcats. USC will face Arizona in Tucson as a part of a three-game road trip. The Wildcats are 12-4 overall after suffering a loss against the Washington State Cougars on Saturday night. The matchup is scheduled for 7 p.m. PT on Wednesday and will be shown on ESPN.