Men’s basketball falls to Colorado at Galen Center


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Senior guard Jonah Matthews shot just 26.7% from the field during USC’s loss to Colorado Saturday. (James Wolfe | Daily Trojan)

In what might have been its most important game of the season to this point, the USC men’s basketball team came up  short Saturday night of No. 20 Colorado, losing 78-57 at Galen Center.  

The Trojans knew they were playing for sole possession of first place in the Pac-12 after conference No. 1 Oregon lost earlier in the day to Stanford. 

But the stakes were similarly high for Colorado as well. With a conference record of 5-3, the Buffaloes had an opportunity to tie the Trojans for second place in the Pac-12 with a win.

Whereas Colorado played like a team that had plenty riding on Saturday’s matchup, USC faltered and could not keep up with the Buffaloes’ high powered offense. 

At one point in the game, Colorado had a 27-point lead, an unprecedented deficit for USC this season.

“[We] played fairly hard, we just didn’t play well,” USC head coach Andy Enfield said. “Give Colorado credit … Some of the guys who aren’t even shooters really hurt us.”

Shooting proved to be the biggest difference in the game. The Buffaloes shot 51.9% from the field while the Trojans shot only 37.9%, one of their worst shooting performances of the season. 

Momentum was also a key part of the Buffaloes’ success. After USC’s last two home games saw the Trojans erase a 20-point halftime deficit against Stanford and come back late against Utah, Colorado quickly put to rest any hope of another stunning comeback with a 13-0 run to start the second half.

“We had a lot of chances early and throughout the game to make layups, make post moves, make threes, and we just didn’t get it done,” Enfield said. “So we’ll have to figure out how to improve our offense and go from there.”

Colorado forced 11 turnovers and capitalized by turning them into 15 points. The Buffaloes kept the Trojans on their toes all game long by not allowing easy shots. It was a tough night all around for the Trojans, who fell victim to eight steals and four blocks by the Buffaloes.

Junior guard Tyler Bey led Colorado with team highs of 16 points and seven rebounds. 

USC senior guard Jonah Mathews and freshman forward Onyeka Okongwu led the way in scoring for the Trojans with 11 points each. Okongwu also pulled down 10 rebounds on his way to yet another double-double this season but struggled overall from the field, shooting just 3-of-8 with a number of misses deep in the paint. Fellow freshman forward Isaiah Mobley scored 12 points off the bench.

“I think our energy dropped off,” Mobley said. “I picked up two quick fouls, and normally that’s one of my jobs as a sixth man, seventh man to come in and bring energy, and I think we as a team — we just took a dip.”

The Trojans will hope to move past the tough loss and regroup in the second half of the conference schedule. With an overall record of 17-5 and conference record of 6-3, USC can still earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament, which has alluded the Trojans since 2017. 

USC will travel to Arizona next to take on Arizona and Arizona State. The Trojans will first travel to Tucson to match up with the Wildcats, who currently stand at 5-3 in the Pac-12. The two teams will tip off Thursday at 6 p.m. before a 7 p.m. Saturday matchup with the Sun Devils.