Trojans pick bad time for worst game as Arizona silences sell-out crowd

The stage was set.

An announcement the day earlier that the game was already sold out. The marketing staff promoting a "white out" to leverage those fans -- especially the students, who would wait in long lines wrapping around Galen Center to get their place behind the baseline for this showdown. No. 2-ranked Arizona visiting in a highly-anticipated rematch after USC had squandered a prime opportunity to win the first meeting in Tucson, Ariz., last month. An ESPN spotlight.

And then ...

"Unfortunately, we did not reciprocate all the hard work everybody did, and everybody was in the building pumped up to see a great basketball game -- we did not play very well and Arizona did," Trojans coach Andy Enfield said. "Give them credit -- they outplayed us and they looked like the second-ranked team in the country tonight."

The gap between the two teams sure looked a lot wider this time, as the Wildcats blew past the No. 16 Trojans, 91-71, Tuesday night to clinch the Pac-12 regular-season title.

It was the worst loss of the season for USC (25-5, 14-5 Pac-12), which has been highly competitive even in defeat this year -- like that first meeting with the Wildcats that the Trojans eventually lost 72-63 after having it within 3 points with a little more than a minute to play.

This game was never close. Not late, not early, not at any point in between.

Arizona (26-3, 16-2) built a double-digit lead within the first 7 minutes and never let it get closer than 9 on the way to building a 51-27 halftime lead.

The one semi-surge the Trojans made in the second half -- a 10-0 run to cut the deficit to 80-64 with less than 5 minutes to play -- was promptly followed by a Christian Koloko jumper and an early-in-the-shot-clock 3 from Dalen Terry to quell even the faintest thoughts of a comeback.

"Oregon at home with no fans -- they beat us. Up until this point Oregon was the only team to really beat us. The other games were right down to the last 30 seconds, that we lost, or last minute. Arizona beat us -- they beat us tonight," Enfield said.

"... This may be a good thing to wake us up a little bit. Who knows? If you're going to lose a game like this, you need to make it a good thing. You have to find some positive out of playing like we did and having them win by 20 points. We need to bounce back on Saturday and play with more toughness -- more mental toughness, more physical toughness and more efficiency."

And more made shots.

USC shot 39.7 percent for the game, including a woeful 4 of 18 from 3-point range, mimicking the shooting struggles it had in that first meeting with Arizona.

As Enfield would point out a couple times, his three best players started the game 3 for 23 from the field. Isaiah Mobley finished with 9 points and 10 rebounds but on 3-of-12 shooting. Drew Peterson scored 10 points but hit just 2 of 11 shots. And Boogie Ellis finished with 9 points on 3 of 11 from the floor.

(Max Agbonkpolo led the Trojans with 14 points off the bench and Chevez Goodwin scored 10 on an efficient 4-of-5 shooting.)

"Our three leading scorers started out 3 for 23 from the field and you can't win like that. You're not going to beat anybody, let alone Arizona," Enfield said. "So our best players have to play well in big games, and they've done that most of the season. They all had off nights."

Peterson had gone 1 for 13 from the field in that first game against Arizona before catching fire the last month, twice winning the Pac-12 Player of the Week honor. So his struggles Tuesday were eerily familiar to that game in Tucson, right down to the identical 0-for-6 3-point shooting line.

"Just missing shots. I saw a few go in and out. I think about 3 or 4 of my 3s, but I've just got to keep the confidence," Peterson said. "I know my teammates trust me and I'll get back at it Saturday. But I'm not going to lose any confidence with a shooting night like this."

Said Enfield: "Drew's had a terrific season. So has Isaiah and so has Boogie, and they started out 3 for 23 and they ended up 8 for 34. Your leading scorers have to play well in big games or you're just not going to win. When you're playing 30-some minutes each you've got to produce. They had off nights. We love them, they're great players, they've been terrific all season, everybody has off games, but when all three of them have an off game at the same time it really hurts us."

It wasn't just the shooting or the transition baskets for Arizona or the 12 turnovers for the Trojans. The defense was flat all game, consistently yielding open 3s for Arizona (12 of 25 from long range) and all-too-easy dunks and alley-oops.

Five Wildcats scored in double figures, led by Bennedict Mathurin (19 points) and Kerr Kriisa (18).

Enfield and Mobley suggested that the timing of this off game could be good for the team, to wake them up before the Pac-12 tournament and NCAA tournament.

They've got to hope that's the case and that it doesn't linger, after a season that has been highly entertaining overall while inspiring hopes for another deep tournament run. They have one more opportunity to regain some momentum -- Saturday at UCLA -- before the postseason.

"Our players will be ready to go on Saturday or they just won't play. We're going to have a few good days of practice, they're going to play hard and we're going to go compete," Enfield said.

Said Mobley: "I mean, it's disappointing, but it's over now so what can you do? We've got UCLA. We've got the Pac-12 tournament and then we've got March Madness. We've only lost five games so just learn from it. I'd rather lose now than in either of those tournaments, so learn from what we did. This was like a tournament game, dang near, so yeah, teaching point, get this one out now and let's just try to get the ball rolling for the rest of March."

Enfield made a point to thank the fans and reiterated his disappointment that the Trojans couldn't deliver for them.

In the team's first sellout of the season, they won a tightly-contested rivalry showdown with UCLA that had fans joining in the celebration on the court afterward.

The stage was set again for another memorable evening in Galen Center, but it wasn't to be this time.

But if there is a positive to take from the night, Enfield underscored it. USC wasn't getting these kind of crowds in recent years -- packed student sections that brought life to the whole arena. He quipped that in the past some games he'd look over and see 50 students in total. On Tuesday night, there were well over 2,000 again -- all wearing white, all ready for something to celebrate.

That's a good sign for this program -- as is the season overall to this point, because there has been a lot to feel good about with this seemingly over-achieving team. This is one game. All that really matters is how the Trojans bounce back from it and what they do in the postseason.

But sure, it's disappointing as the stage was set for a much different performance than the one the fans got this time.

"We're 25-5. Our players have done an amazing job this year to put themselves in position. We're 25-5 and whether you lose by 1 or you lose by 20, it's still a loss," Enfield said. "... The disappointing thing is when you have a great crowd like that, you don't want to lose by 20.”