Trojans drop 4th straight to Oregon State


The Trojans men’s basketball team (9-10, 1-6 Pac-12) lost its fourth straight game with a 59-55 loss to the Oregon State Beavers (14-5, 5-2), who won their third game in a row.

USC was led by redshirt sophomore guard Katin Reinhardt with 17 points, including 4-7 from three, while sophomore forward Nikola Jovanovic added 13 points and 6 boards. Freshman point guard Jordan McLaughlin had a    game-high seven assists but only shot 2-11 from the field for 9 points. McLaughlin has lost his stroke as of late, as he only shot 4-15 in the Trojans’ loss to Oregon.

With his Hall of Fame dad in attendance, OSU guard Gary Payton II had a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds, his sixth double-double of the season. Forward Jarmal Reid added 14 points off the bench, the same amount scored by the entire bench of the Trojans. The surprising Beavers are now 12-0 at home.

“If you ask me what the difference in the game was, our guards have got to step up and make some shots,” said USC head coach Andy Enfield

The Beavers pulled away in the first half with an 11-2 run led by Reid. It looked as if the Beavers were going to roll to a comfortable win, but the Trojans fought back with a 9-0 run of their own to cut the first half deficit to two. The first half was a back-and-forth affair that included seven lead changes and one tie in the first eight minutes of the game.

Oregon State then went on to take an early 8-point lead in the second half, thanks to three consecutive shots from distance from forward Olaf Schaftenaar, but the Trojans stormed back with an 11-0 run, capped by a three from Reinhardt, to take a 3-point lead before Oregon State came charging back and took the lead for good after a layup by Reid with 10:02 remaining.

USC had a chance to tie the game with a three late in the game, but sophomore guard Julian Jacobs turned the ball over with nine seconds left and Payton clinched the game with a free throw that sent USC home having lost both games in Oregon.

USC was not dominated in any aspect of the game but Oregon State did just enough to hold off the Trojans.

The Trojans continued to shoot poorly from the field, only making 34 percent of their baskets. They are currently tied for last in the Pac-12 in field goal percentage, averaging 41.9 percent from the field. And while not the sole reason for the defeat, the Trojans did commit 10 turnovers, something that plagued this young team early in the season.

Despite the poor performance by the Trojan bench, redshirt sophomore forward Darion Clark continued to be productive with 8 points and 8 rebounds to lead the second unit.

The freshmen for USC struggled again against the Beavers. Guard Elijah Stewart only scored 2 points, that came on a breakaway dunk and forward Malik Martin was held scoreless in his limited playing time.

Martin only played three minutes and was replaced in the starting lineup by guard Malik Marquetti, who was also held without a point in the contest.

“They played really hard, they played excellent defense,” Enfield told the Los Angeles Times. “Unfortunately, we came out on the short end of the stick.”

The Trojans return home on Thursday to face the Colorado Buffaloes (10-9, 3-4) as they look to improve their conference record to close out the month. Colorado is led by guard Askia Booker, as they are dealing with injuries to their two big-time scorers, forwards Josh Scott and Xavier Johnson.

The Buffaloes are coming off a win over Washington State as they head to Los Angeles to play USC and UCLA. Colorado is winless on the road thus far this season and USC is 6-4 at home.