USC Basketball: Andy Enfield Explains Why Trojans "Deserve" Upset Against UCI

Better to learn now rather than later.

When your USC Trojans fell to the UC Irvine Anteaters 70-60 on Tuesday, eyebrows were raised about the caliber of Andy Enfield's group. 

UC Irvine is unranked, and don't possess the talent that the Trojans do. Struggling against them this early in the season is ever a good look. 

USC was banged up – Boogie Ellis, Kobe Johnson, Bronny James and Vince Iwuchukwu were all out. Ellis and Johnson both start and provide key contributions on both sides of the ball, leading to their absence forcing freshman Isaiah Collier to take the reins with limited help. 

To that end, the loss is fairly explainable, but plenty of top teams across the nation play non-conference, unranked opponents short-handed, and don't lose. For example, UConn is 2-0 with a +74 point differential without 5-star Stephon Castle the past two games. 

Trojans coach Andy Enfield understands this, however, leading him to say this (per Thuc Nhi Nguyen of The Los Angeles Times): 

“We deserve to lose this game by the way we played — offensively especially,” Enfield said. “It’s frustrating, I know our players are very upset, but it’s on me. I gotta figure out, even though we’re short-handed, figure out how to have better practices and obviously how to execute better offensively during the game.”

Leaving this loss with an attitude of growth and improvement is great, as Enfield could've easily just blamed the loss on the injuries to key pieces. 

This loss also happening so early in the season is preferable to it happening during conference or post-season play, as USC should respond by becoming more adaptable to injuries, certain opponent play styles, etc. 

Going forward, however, expect improvement from the USC offense as they learn how to optimally utilize Isaiah Collier, along with getting the most out of their supporting cast. 

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