Trojans open season 2-0 with win over Monmouth

The USC men’s basketball team fended off a gritty effort from Monmouth for a 101-90 victory on Monday night at Galen Center.

With under four minutes to play, the Trojans gained separation in a close game down the stretch. Up 84-82, Katin Reinhardt and Elijah Stewart connected on back-to-back threes to push the lead to eight, and USC was able to hold on for the win.

They survived against a tough Monmouth team that shocked UCLA with an overtime win over the Bruins on Friday night, and came close to doing the same at USC.

But the Trojans were too much in the end, as five players finished in double figures. Jordan McLaughlin led the way with 22 points, and Nikola Jovanovic and Stewart both had 20.

“I thought that was a very exciting college basketball game tonight,” head coach Andy Enfield said. “A lot of action, a lot of tough shots made by both teams, and a lot of great plays. I’m proud of how our players played down the stretch, offensively and defensively.”

USC took a one-point lead into the half, and the teams went back and forth in the second half with the intensity ratcheted up a notch. There were seven lead changes alone in the first 10 minutes of the half, with Monmouth’s three-point shooting keeping the score close.

McLaughlin’s floater put the Trojans ahead by four with 7:38 to play. But the Hawks hung tough, with Justin Robinson making a couple of tough threes that drew Monmouth within one at 77-76.

Robinson finished with a game-high of 28 points.

“We just wanted to play our defensive roles,” McLaughlin said on containing Monmouth’s offense. “In the second half, [Robinson] got hot. We decided to trap him on ball screens and everybody just rotated over from there.”

The Trojans scored the first seven points of the game, capped off by a three-pointer by McLaughlin. A fastbreak layup by Reinhardt gave the Trojans a 17-6 lead, one they extended to as much as 16 midway through the half after Jovanovic completed a three-point play.

But Monmouth came storming back, and it was all Hawks from the midway point on. They went on an 18-6 run to take the lead, with Robinson and Deon Jones leading the charge.

Back-to-back tough jump shots by Robinson and a three by Jones cut the lead to two, and a spectacular reverse layup by Jones gave Monmouth its first lead of the night at 44-42 late in the half.

“We knew Monmouth was a good basketball team,” Enfield said. “They play at such a fast pace. In the first half when they made their run, because of our foul trouble, we got a little winded trying to keep up with them and let them back in the game. They earned it because they made some great plays and really ran the floor and got back in the game.”

Reinhardt’s basket gave the Trojans a 47-46 lead heading into halftime. Jovanovic’s 14 points led USC in the first half. Playing a highly efficient game, he finished shooting seven-of-eight from the field, a highly efficient game.

“I was just trying to do my work,” he said. “And they weren’t able to stop me.”

Up next for the Trojans will be a game against New Mexico at the Galen Center on Saturday.