USC Basketball: Trojans Drop Close Game to Oregon
The USC Trojans are now 6-6 on the season following an 82-74 loss to the Oregon Ducks.
For the Trojans, Boogie Ellis and Kobe Johnson shot a combined 7-26 from the field for just 18 total points and 5 turnovers.
Isaiah Collier had 11 points, but shot just 4-9 from the field and 2-4 from the free throw line. He also had 4 fouls, which is its own long-term issue seeing as he only played 30 minutes, and him being in foul trouble is recurring.
As a team, USC shot well from the field (46%), but shot just 33% from 3-point range and committed 11 more fouls than the Ducks. Little issues like over-fouling and missing a couple of open looks here and there are what cost teams games, and it's safe to say that's all it was last night.
More broadly, however,
A .500 start 12 games into the season is completely inexcusable given the team's personnel.
Led by 5th-year guard and former All-Pac-12 First Team selection Boogie Ellis and top-ranked recruit Isaiah Collier, USC entered the season ranked No. 16 in the AP Poll, and were picked by many to have a big season – highlighted by potentially winning the Pac-12.
Fast forward 12 games later, and USC is a total mess. They've struggled against nearly all of their quality opponents, getting blown out by Auburn, and dropping games to Oklahoma, Gonzaga, and and now, Oregon.
4 of their 6 victories have come against bad teams, with them stacking the win column via games against CSU Bakersfield, Eastern Washington, Brown, and Alabama State.
Excluding these free wins (USC also struggled against Brown), the Trojans are 2-6 with conference play on the horizon. It's inexplicable. Andy Enfield should be on the hot seat, as no coach is doing less with more.
