The hype around USC basketball is real. The Trojans earned another compelling win Friday night in their first home game of the season, taking down Cal State Bakersfield 85-59 at Galen Center.

Everyone got in on the action for USC (2-0), with five Trojans logging double-digit points. Freshman guard Isaiah Collier led the way with 19 points, five assists and three rebounds while asserting himself defensively with four steals. 

All eyes have been on Collier to start the season, and he has not disappointed. Whenever he was on the court, he had an immediate impact. Collier has seemed to take over ball-handling duties for the majority of the possessions, but with that came a few bumps in the road in the form of four second-half turnovers.

“There’s a lot of room to grow still, and for me, it’s just being smarter,” Collier said. “I’m still learning, but definitely cutting down on the turnovers and staying engaged on the defensive end are the two biggest things for me.”

Fifth-year guard Boogie Ellis (11), redshirt senior forward Joshua Morgan (12), graduate forward DJ Rodman (15) and sophomore guard Oziyah Sellers (16) paced the rest of the Trojan scoring effort. Sellers was a standout in particular for USC, logging career-highs in minutes, points, assists, rebounds and made field goals.

Sellers was sparsely used last season as a freshman but has gained an elevated role this year. While only scoring three points in the first game against Kansas State (1-1), Sellers still logged 16 minutes.

“He didn’t shoot the ball well [last year] but today, he played very good defense and he made some shots,” said Head Coach Andy Enfield. “He looked like a guy that’s been relied upon for a long time, so we’re hoping this gives him some confidence because we’re very confident in him as a coaching staff.”

The Trojans came out of the gates firing and jumped to a 12-4 lead in just over two minutes of action. USC constantly took shots within 10 seconds of the shot clock, pushing the tempo early. It was a different offensive style for a team that ranked 134th in pace last season.

The backcourt pairing of Ellis and Collier was on glistening display for fans right from the jump. Collier and Ellis scored or assisted on USC’s first 19 points, working in tandem to stretch the Trojans’ lead.

“It’s all been natural,” Collier said. “We have worked out every day together since I got here, since day one in May.” 

The Trojans were lights out in the first half, making 58.6% of their shots from the field and 50% of their 3-pointers — including three from the Washington State transfer Rodman. But that’s not to say USC’s patented defense wasn’t also stepping up.

The Roadrunners (1-1) were held to just 38.5% from the field and without a 3-pointer in the first half. Despite a better showing from Bakersfield in the second half, the Trojans still forced 15 turnovers and scored 9 points off of them.

Collier put the exclamation point on the game with just under three minutes remaining. Being closed down by two Roadrunner defenders, Collier escaped trouble to his left and placed a perfect pass over two defenders to freshman forward Arrinten Page for the alley-oop slam.

The only thing missing from USC’s wire-to-wire victory? Junior guard Kobe Johnson did not suit up, as he was sidelined with an injury from the season-opener, Enfield announced in the post-game press conference. The Pac-12 All-Defensive team member is day-to-day, Enfield said.

The Trojans will miss Johnson’s defensive presence, but when the rest of the team steps up as it did against the Roadrunners, it won’t matter. USC has a number of key injuries besides Johnson at the moment — sophomore forward Vincent Iwuchukwu and freshman guard Bronny James. Regardless, the Trojans are gaining national notoriety with their dominant play.

A crowd of kids waited for autographs 30 minutes after the game ended for the star players to come out — something seldom seen in years past. The buzz around the team has been tremendous, but Enfield knows there’s still much to be improved on.

“This team will be much better in January and February,” Enfield said. “Once we get healthy and we get everybody on the same page, this team will keep improving.”

USC will see its next action back at Galen when it prepares to host UC Irvine Tuesday at 8 p.m.