Trojan postseason hopes in jeopardy


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Senior guard Boogie Ellis averaged 14 points and 3 assists in the Trojans visit to University of Oregon and Oregon State. (Peter Gastis | Daily Trojan)

The Trojans’ hopes of participating in the NCAA Tournament took a major uppercut as USC fell to Oregon State 61-58 in a late-game heartbreaker. With the Trojans trailing by three points in the waning moments of the game, senior guard Boogie Ellis’ left-wing 3-point look caromed off the back rim to hand the Trojans their eighth loss on the season. 

In a game barren of positives for USC, true freshman forward Vincent Iwuchukwu once again proved to be one of the lone bright spots for the squad. The 7’1” forward was overpowering on both ends of the floor, playing a career-high 25 minutes and finishing with a career-high 19 points on 5-10 shooting. Iwuchukwu also had three blocks. 

Iwuchukwu botched an alley-oop layup as the Trojans trailed by one point with under a minute to go. However, the forward displayed prolific touch from the free throw line, hitting all nine of his attempts — a rare trait for young big men in college basketball. While the Trojans may not find themselves competing for the national championship, this season will prove vital for Iwuchukwu’s development.

Outside of the starting forward, there was little to write home about for USC. The guard trio of Ellis, fifth-year guard Drew Peterson and freshman guard Tre White combined to hit just eight of their 29 field goal attempts. Throw in sophomore guard Kobe Johnson’s subpar night, and the Trojans’ starters outside of Iwuchukwu shot a horrid 30% from the field. 

Head Coach Andy Enfield prefers to lean heavily on his starting unit, but finding a winning formula during a poor shooting night from veteran leaders like Ellis and Peterson in a must-win game was a tall and seemingly futile task. 

“Something has to go down if you’re going to beat a team on the road,” Enfield said in an interview with 247 Sports. “It wasn’t like we were taking bad shots. We got pretty much what we wanted.”

The Beavers’ bench unit provided a strong scoring punch, winning the battle of the benches 20-3. Senior forward Dzmitry Ryuny delivered three back-breaking threes off the bench for the Beavers, raining heavily contested jumpers over the Trojans in the second half. 

Freshman guard Jordan Pope and sophomore forward Glenn Taylor Jr.  were the primary driving forces behind the Beavers’ win Saturday. Pope, who leads all Pac-12 freshmen in scoring, put up 16 points and 3 assists — including a sweet pull-up mid-range jump shot to give the Beavers a 3-point lead with just over two minutes remaining.

Taylor relentlessly attacked the rim all night, finishing with a team-high 18 points on 7-15 shooting. Despite the Beavers’ failure to convert a field goal in the paint for the first nine and a half minutes of the game, Taylor was not deterred; The 6’6” forward attacked the 7’1” Iwuchukwu with the game on the line, initially getting swatted but finishing the putback layup for the go-ahead bucket that would prove to be the game-clinching field goal. 

The Trojans made just a single 3-pointer compared to 6 from the Beavers which accounted for the true difference in the ballgame. USC misfired on 13 of 14 shots, the lowest three-point percentage the Trojans have shot during Enfield’s 10-year tenure as head coach. Enfield’s squad won the rebounding and points in the paint battle, but the offense came up short to close both halves. 

“We got good shots all night. We moved the ball,” Enfield said. “You’ve got to make more than one three though. I think Boogie’s seven threes, maybe six were pretty wide open.”

USC will look to extend its 12-game winning streak at Galen Center against the UC Berkeley Golden Bears Thursday, aiming to win out against Pac-12 opponents and keep their tournament hopes alive.