Los Angeles, CA- Thanks to the late-game heroics from redshirt senior forward Joshua Morgan and his block on a potential game-tying layup, the USC Trojans (10-15, 4-10 PAC 12) escaped with a 68-64 victory over the Utah Utes.
Freshman guard Isaiah Collier returned to the Galen Center after recovering from a hand injury sustained in the game against Washington State on January 10. In tonight’s game, Collier led USC with 15 points and contributed 6 assists. Since his return, he is averaging 17.7 points throughout three games.
“He missed a couple of easy shots, but he had six assists and he’s important to our offense because he can put pressure on the defense and he’ll get in the lane and make plays for his teammates”, Head Coach Andy Enfield said when describing his point guards play. “He is a very unselfish player, so we were happy to have him back. Like I said, we need to keep working as a team because we think we can string some games together here.”
The Trojans were in charge most of the first half and dictated the pace with their air-tight defense. USC shot 42% on 14-33 attempts from the floor and led by as many as 13 points in the first half of play.
Utah shot 34% from the field on 11-32 attempts. The Utes struggled to connect from behind the arc and shot 8% from deep after making only 1-12 attempts. Utah trailed 29-34 at halftime.
In the second half, Utah led by guard Devion Smith, who scored 19 points, grabbed nine rebounds, and collected seven assists helped the Utes take the lead. Utah shot 39% from the field and continued to struggle from deep finishing the game shooting 19% from the three-point line and making 4-21 attempts.
USC shot 38% from the floor in the second half and also struggled to connect from long distance only making 5-20 attempts for 20%. The Trojans missed shot attempts and a couple of untimely turnovers allowed the Utes to remain within striking distance.
Senior guard Boogie Ellis had the opportunity to put the game away for the Trojans but missed the front end of a 1-1 and Utah got the ball into Smith’s hands and had the opportunity to take the lead or tie the game in closing seconds. As he attacked the rim, Senior rim protector Joshua Morgan trailed Smith and blocked his potential game-tying layup.
USC bounced back from a disappointing Bay Area road trip, where they lost in overtime to Cal and got embarrassed by Stanford.
“It was more about pride really, to be honest”, Isaiah Collier said. “It was an embarrassing loss for us at Stanford. They hit, what, 19 threes. We didn’t show fight in that game. But we also learned a lot from that game. So we took into practice as far as aggression and stuff like that and we built from it.”
The Trojans now prepare to welcome Colorado to the Galen Center on Saturday in a primetime match on ESPN2.
