It’s another quiet home loss for USC, this time to Oregon
DJ Rodman had the type of emphatic block that would typically be met with loud cheers in front of a home crowd. Instead, the half-full Galen Center crowd sat silent with USC on the way to another loss.
In this season, USC hasn’t given its fans much to cheer about.
Once ranked among the top 25, the Trojans slipped further into oblivion Thursday with a 78-69 loss to Oregon. USC’s losing streak stretched to six, its longest since losing nine in a row in 2015.
Boogie Ellis had 17 points to lead the Trojans, who had no answers for Oregon’s Jackson Shelstad. The freshman finished with 20 points and six assists to lead five Oregon players in double-digit scoring.
Boogie Ellis tried to make a meaningful impact, but USC’s 65-50 loss to UCLA underscored just how much the Trojans are struggling without Isaiah Collier.
The Trojans (8-13, 2-8 Pac-12) looked listless on defense from their opening possession when Shelstad swished a three-pointer. USC sleepwalked into a seven-point hole with 12:01 remaining in the first half. After Oregon made five of six shots and USC turned the ball over, USC associate head coach Chris Capko lit into players during a timeout.
“If you’re not going to be focused and do your job, you’re just going to come out,†USC coach Andy Enfield said, noting the team’s relatively deep nine-player rotation. “That will continue until we get some consistency and toughness.â€
Enfield lamented USC’s lack of defensive rebounding. Oregon (15-6, 7-3 Pac-12) had 17 offensive rebounds on 41 missed shots. The Trojans have given up double-digit offensive rebounds in four consecutive games.
In search of a rebounding spark, Enfield threw freshman Arrinten Page into the starting lineup for just the second time this season. The 6-foot-11 forward finished with one defensive rebound among his three boards with eight points and four blocks. He was subbed out at the first whistle, less than two minutes into the game, for Rodman, who had seven rebounds — six defensive — with six points.
“Our four bigs are not very good at defensive rebounders, in fact they’re poor,†Enfield said. “You can’t keep playing 15, 20, 25 minutes a game and have zero or one defensive rebound, so that really hurts us.â€
Joshua Morgan led the four-man center rotation with five rebounds, four defensive boards, six points and four blocks. Sophomores Vincent Iwuchukwu and Kijani Wright each had one defensive rebound.
Sophomore guard Oziyah Sellers has stepped into a larger role with freshman guard Isaiah Collier out. Since the top-ranked recruit in the country injured his hand in the second half against Washington State, the Trojans haven’t reached 70 points in a game.
Dylan Andrews finishes with 20 points and Adem Bona had 10 points and 10 rebounds as UCLA defeats USC 65-50 to give Mick Cronin his first win at Galen Center.
Sellers scored 12 points against the Ducks and has scored in double digits in four of the past five games, but had zero in the rebounding column of his stat line Thursday.
“There’s no way I should be able to play over 20 minutes and have no rebounds,†said Sellers, who played 26 minutes and 18 seconds.
The Trojans showed late signs of life by cutting an 18-point Oregon lead down to seven in the final minute. With the chance to save face by whittling the score down more, they missed three consecutive three pointers in 12 seconds. On the third offensive rebound during the possession, Wright missed a dunk.
Fans, at least the few remaining in the stands, could only laugh in disbelief.
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