USC Basketball: Bronny James Botches First Career College Start Vs Colorado

During your USC Trojans' 68-58 loss to the Colorado Buffaloes Saturday, four-star freshman combo guard Bronny James drew his first start in the absence of the team's starting backcourt.

With fifth-year guard Boogie Ellis sitting due to a hamstring strain and James' fellow freshman guard Isaiah Collier sidelined for the next 4-6 weeks because of a hand injury, Bronny was drafted to start by head coach Andy Enfield. The Pac-12's best shot blocker, USC power forward Joshua Morgan, was also unavailable due to a lingering upper respiratory illness.

After roundly outscoring the Buffaloes 37-24 in the game's opening half (despite getting nothing from James), Colorado turned the tables after the break, going 44-21 the rest of the way. With the victory, Colorado improves to a 12-5 record for the year (3-3 in conference play).

Across 25 minutes of action, James couldn't get anything cooking on offense. The 6'4" 19-year-old out of Sierra Canyon School in Chatsworth shot 0-of-7 from the floor (0-of-3 from deep), notched two boards and dished out one dime.

USC has fallen to a paltry 8-9 record on the season (2-4 in the Pac-12). The Trojans will have their next opportunity to remedy what's been an uneven start to their 2023-24 NCAA season thus far on Wednesday, against the 12-4 Arizona Wildcats, the eighth-ranked team in the nation.