Men’s basketball ekes out overtime victory over California Baptist in season opener

The USC men’s basketball team tipped off the 2020-21 season with a 95-87 victory over California Baptist at Galen Center Wednesday night. 

The Trojans were led by No. 3 recruit freshman forward Evan Mobley, who had 21 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. His brother, sophomore forward Isaiah Mobley, had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Redshirt senior Tahj Eaddy contributed with 18 points and four assists. 

The Trojans have now won 12 of their last 13 home openers and are 48-8 in home non-conference games with Andy Enfield as head coach.

A back-and-forth battle saw seven lead changes between the two schools. 

The Trojans were down 5 with 1:59 left in the game but went on a 5-0 run to tie it. Eaddy hit a huge three with 47 seconds left in regulation to send it to overtime. 

This capped off an impressive sequence from sophomore guard Ethan Anderson, who had a huge steal leading to a bucket then dished it to Eaddy on the next possession. He highlighted the importance of making extra-effort plays for the Trojans.

“This team, I think, they look to me to really spark our defensive efforts … Those big steals, I need to come up with those because it provides energy to the team,” Anderson said in a virtual press conference after the game. “My biggest identity is that I can help the team in many different ways.”

The Trojans’ length and defensive versatility became evident in overtime. 

In the extra five minutes, CBU was held to only 8 points and went scoreless for nearly four minutes. Enfield said the adjustments USC made were the difference. 

“At the end, we soft-hedged [the picks] and let the guards go over and let the guards come to our bigs. So I thought that was effective,” Enfield said. “We took the three away a little bit [in] the later part of the game.”

Evan Mobley’s paint presence also disrupted the Lancers in overtime, along with the glue-like defense of Eaddy and Anderson on leading scorer redshirt junior guard Ty Rowell. 

A block by Evan Mobley on CBU’s third possession in overtime fueled a 10-0 run by the Trojans to put them in the driver’s seat. Anderson said that forcing the Lancers to the basket was the key to getting stops and led to confidence on the other side of the floor.

“That [block] was a very important play. At the end of the game we kept saying, ‘Let’s make them drive to the basket’ because very few times they scored when they actually put the ball on the floor,” Anderson said. “That big blocked shot definitely helped our momentum and it helped us flow into our offense easier.”

Mobley showed his defensive potential in the final minutes of the game. This proved to be a deciding factor, which Mobley said resulted from him being more locked in. 

“We were making a little bit of mistakes on the other end,” he said. “I just tried to lock in and create defensive things for our team.”

Enfield said he would like to see more of Mobley’s defensive intensity moving forward.

“Defensively, he turned it up late in the game and then in overtime,” Enfield said. “He needs to be more active, which I think he understands. Their big guy went at him a few times, and so he’s going to get better … He made a lot of great plays for his teammates tonight.”

The Trojans had a balanced attack offensively with six players scoring in double digits. Junior guard Drew Peterson provided consistent offense for the Trojans when both Mobleys were out. The transfer from Rice had 12 points, along with nine rebounds.

The Trojans struggled to take care of the ball and shoot from the free-throw line throughout most of the game. They had 17 turnovers and shot 53% from the charity stripe as a team. 

California Baptist sank 20 threes and shot 45% from the field, 49% from three. The Lancers were led by Rowell’s 32 points, including nine threes. 

Enfield said the Trojans did not have a sense of urgency against shooters on the defensive end early on. 

Last season’s USC team led the Pac-12 in rebounding, and the Trojans dominated on the glass again with 48 rebounds to California Baptist’s 28. They also scrapped for 18 offensive rebounds leading to 18 second chance points.

However, unlike last season, fans were not present at Galen Center and all coaches wore masks. Anderson said the lack of fans made it difficult for the Trojans to play energized.

“Fans don’t get enough credit … in terms of bringing the energy. So we had to create our own energy, which is something we’ve never had to experience,” Anderson said. “Playing without them certainly felt different and I think it worked to the other team’s advantage.”

The Trojans are set to face Montana Saturday at 2 p.m.