No. 19 USC stumbles offensively in loss to Utah


By
 in ,
Freshman forward Evan Mobley posted a below-average 11 points and eight rebounds against Utah. The star freshman hasn’t eclipsed his average points per game since USC’s loss against Arizona Feb. 20.  (Simon Park | Daily Trojan)

The Trojans fell on the road 71-61 to Utah Saturday night — a stark contrast to their dominant win over the Utes in January. 

In their prior matchup, USC led by just four points at halftime before hounding Utah defensively, holding them to 18 points in the second half in the 64-46 win. 

It was a similar story with a completely different ending for the Trojans. After leading by two points at the interval, USC came out of the locker room looking flat, connecting on just one of their first 13 field goal attempts. The Utes immediately rattled off an 8-0 run to start the second period, a trend that would continue to the final buzzer. 

“Very disappointed in our second half of basketball,” USC head coach Andy Enfield said. “It was our worst half probably all season.”

Not many positives can be drawn from this loss to a Utah team that was riding four-straight losses coming in. USC’s starting five combined to shoot just over 31% from the field against the Utes, who are currently a sub .500 team. 

The offensive side of the basketball has been the biggest question mark for this Trojan squad all season. Against Utah on Jan. 2, freshman forward Evan Mobley put up three points without attempting a single shot throughout the game. In USC’s second meeting against the Utes, Mobley finished with just 11 points going 2-7 from the field, numbers far below the star’s average. 

Mobley’s scoring in the post and unique agility make him an important asset to this team’s offense, but such contributions disappeared for stretches throughout the game. As a force down low able to get easy buckets, this USC squad goes as far as Mobley takes them. 

With Mobley’s offensive faltering, the Trojans forced kickouts to perimeter players. Against a Utes team that was shooting 60% from behind the arc, USC stood no chance of winning the 3-point matchup. The Trojans currently rank No. 10 in the Pac-12 in both 3-point attempts and 3-pointers made.

When the Trojans were in need of someone to take the reins and drag them back into the game, junior guard Drew Peterson did his best to steady the ship. He put up a team-high 19 points going 8-15, but it wasn’t enough to combat the team’s overall horrid shooting and lackluster ball handling with 13 turnovers. 

“You just have to play better. There’s no excuses,” Enfield said. “If you want to win Pac-12 games on the road, you can’t play like that. It’s not efficient basketball, and it’s not good enough.”

Despite the Trojans offensive woes throughout the season, they didn’t just stumble into a 19-6 record by chance. They earned it on the defensive side of the ball, boasting a top-20 field goal percentage defense in the NCAA. 

The disciplined, smothering defense fans are accustomed to seeing from Trojans was absent in the second half, as the Utes put up 44 points on 59% shooting and a scorching hot 7-9 from beyond the 3-point line on a number of uncontested looks. 

The Trojans held junior forward Timmy Allen to 2-14 shooting in their previous meeting, but Allen looked determined to prove that result as an outlier. He looked comfortable on the floor against USC, scoring 15 points while dishing out eight assists, dominating as a floor general through the second half. 

While three losses in four games would have put USC out of the race for a possible eighth conference title, UCLA’s 70-61 loss to Colorado keeps the Trojans alive. 

USC hosts Stanford at Galen on March 3. Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m. A win against the Cardinals coupled with a UCLA win against Oregon would result in a conference-title matchup on March 6.