After a USC turnover midway through the first half, Head Coach Andy Enfield threw his hands in the air and turned his back to the court. Enfield’s frustration would sum up the night for the Trojans.
In an anticlimactic trilogy game and rubber match, USC fell to UCLA 69-59 in the semifinal game of the Pac-12 Tournament Friday night. The 59 points for the Trojans were the fewest since Feb. 3 against Arizona State.
“We had some guys that had a little off night tonight putting the ball in the basket. We need a higher assist total for us to reach our potential offensively,” said Enfield in a post-game press conference. “We just need to be more efficient.”
USC has now failed to make it to the Pac-12 Tournament Championship game in its last four appearances. The Trojans haven’t won the tournament since 2009.
Junior guard Boogie Ellis led USC with 27 points on an efficient 9-of-17 shooting — his most as a Trojan.
“I was just trying to do whatever it took to help my team win the game,” Ellis said.
Outside of his play, consistent contributions were limited: Senior guard Drew Peterson added 11; junior forward Isaiah Mobley had 9 points on 4-of-11 shooting. Key rotational player and freshman guard Reese Dixon-Waters missed the game too.
The Trojans shot 40% from the field — the fifth straight game the Bruins have held their opponents to under 50% shooting.
“Unfortunately, we could not keep up with the scoring, even though it was a fairly low-scoring game,” Enfield said. “We had our chances, but some of the shots went in and out. We didn’t turn the ball over a ton. But it puts a lot of pressure on your defense when you can’t score the ball when you need to.”
As tip-off came around, the energy inside the T-Mobile Arena created frantic energy between the crosstown rivals. Both sides fed off it, coming out to strong starts — USC made 3 of its first 4 field goals.
However, that was the last of the Trojans’ efficiency for the night.
UCLA’s staunch defense made play difficult for USC. From dribbling around the perimeter to calling a play to setting an off-ball screen for a player, everything became a hassle for the Trojans as they struggled to fall into any offensive rhythm, shooting 31% from the field in the first half.
Finding space on offense became as tedious as finding affordable gas. USC fell into multiple deep droughts without a field goal. They hit only one basket in the final four minutes of the first half.
While the Bruins also experienced the drought, being held without a field goal for four minutes late into the first half, personal fouls on the Trojans kept UCLA comfortable. A Bruins team that shoots 73% from the line on the season shot 81% in the first half.
USC managed to hang around, going down 8 points into the break.
It seemed like the tide was turning early into the second half. The Trojans kept UCLA without a field goal for almost four minutes. The drought cut the Bruins lead down to 4 with momentum shifting back to USC.
UCLA proceeded to go on an 11-4 run and grapple more control of the game with more than 10 minutes remaining. Freshman guard Peyton Watson came alive for the Bruins, hitting consecutive jumpers after barely playing in the first two meetings.
Even as it seemed like the Trojans would get over the hump, two things would happen — either a scoring drought came around for USC. Or the Bruins simply stay ahead behind their composed play.
Four players scored in double figures for UCLA.
“Their four players are very good one-on-one players. They’re experienced, they’re older,” Enfield said. “Our defense was pretty solid, but they’re very good one-on-one players. They can really put pressure on your defense and they make tough shots.”
Coming into the night, the Trojans had a combined 50 turnovers over their last three games. USC cleaned it up, for the most part, Friday night — it turned it over 9 times in the game.
The Trojans have now lost three of their last four games going into tournament play, their longest losing streak of the season.
“We’re going to stay confident, we’re going to be in the gym and we’re going to be ready to go,” Peterson said. “These are the tests we need as we head into obviously the biggest weekend of the season so far.”
USC, eliminated from the Pac-12 tournament, will now await its seed for March Madness Sunday.