Published Mar 13, 2021
Andy Enfield bemoans no foul call as USC loses to Colorado in wild finish
Ryan Young  •  TrojanSports
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That USC was even in the game in the final seconds Friday was an accomplishment after the way things had gone throughout the night.

Still, that didn't soften the finish at all.

After trailing by as many as 15 points in the first half, after being down again by 12 with less than 4 minutes remaining, the Trojans had surged all the way back to tie the game in the final minute on a Tahj Eaddy layup and free throw with 35.2 seconds on the clock.

Colorado's McKinley Wright then missed a jumper at the other end, but because 7-footer Evan Mobley had come out to guard Wright on a switch, there was nobody protecting the rim as D'Shawn Schwartz threw in a lefthanded putback for a 2-point Buffaloes lead with 3.3 seconds remaining.

Enfield called timeout and set USC up for the final play -- an inbounds from the far end to just short of halfcourt to Mobley, who would then turn and hit a cutting Eaddy for the last look. That was the plan at least, and it started out fine, but the second pass never got to Eaddy as Wright blanketed him down the right side of the court.

That's how the game and USC's Pac-12 tournament run in Las Vegas came to an end, with a 72-70 loss to an all-too-familiar foe and with Enfield unable to hide his frustration.

"We executed it perfectly, Evan got the ball in the middle, Tahj broke and McKinley Wright pushed him in the back right in front of our bench and that was the game. And they didn't call a foul," Enfield said.

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It's notable that Wright was the one involved in the final play -- and a no call -- as he took a violent elbow to the head from USC's Chevez Goodwin early in the first half, as Goodwin received only a technical foul (not a flagrant foul) and the Buffaloes' senior point guard wobbled to the locker room for an extended absence.

Wright would return to score a team-high 24 points (including 4 of 6 from 3-point range) to lead No. 3-seeded Colorado (22-7) to the Pac-12 championship game to face No. 5 Oregon State on Saturday.

USC (22-7), the No. 2 seed, got a game-high 26 points, 9 rebounds and 5 blocks from Mobley, but he needed more help as Eaddy (11 points, all late) was the only other Trojan to score in double figures.

USC has now taken three of its seven losses this season to the Buffaloes and has lost the last seven overall in the teams' series. The Trojans are a lock for the NCAA tournament, though, and will await their seeding on Sunday.

"Two good teams played tonight, it came down to the last possession, and I think we can compete with anybody," Enfield said. "There's certain things we do well. I think we're 19-0 when three guys get in double-figures, and tonight we only had two. I think were 3-7 when they don't. Tonight we only had two. Last night we had six guys in double figures. So we need a third scorer. ... If we face a really good offensive team in the tournament we do need to score the ball ourselves and then we have to keep defending at the same level we've been doing all year."

Nothing was working for the Trojans early on Friday night.

Colorado reeled off 17 straight points during one stretch as USC went 8:08 between made field goals. A Jeriah Horne jumper right after that 17-0 run was snapped peaked the lead at 22-7.

Mobley was locked in, though, and would will the Trojans back into this game. His 26 points -- which came on 11-of-16 shooting -- matched the season high he had set the previous night in a double-overtime win over Utah.

He scored 17 of USC's first 27 points before a late Noah Baumann 3-pointer cut the deficit to 39-30 at halftime.

Eaddy and Drew Peterson, USC's second and third leading scorers for the season, were both held scoreless in the first half, but the second half would be a different story.

"We turned the ball over a few times and we missed a lot of shots. Our offense wasn't flowing like it has been the last two weeks. Then we started to really move the ball, play well and started to shoot a very high percentage after that. We shot 60 percent in the second half, 52 for the game, so our guys really turned it on," Enfield said. "So no, our guys we're ready to play -- they just didn't play very well [early]."

After Mobley scored USC's first 6 points after halftime, Peterson started to heat up, dropping in all 9 of his points in a stretch of 5:12 as the Trojans were chipping away at that deficit. An Isaiah Mobley 3-pointer with 6:49 left cut it to a 58-56 game, but then the Trojans let Colorado reassert control.

The Buffaloes scored the next 10 points on back-to-back 3s from Horne, another jumper from Horne and an Evan Battey finish inside to make it a 68-56 game with just under 4 minutes to play.

USC wasn't done, though.

The Trojans answered with a 14-2 flurry, led by all 11 of Eaddy's points on the night (plus an Evan Mobley 3-pointer). Eaddy's drive and bank off the glass while drawing a foul and hitting the free throw tied it at 70-70, setting up that wild final sequence.

"They kind of changed their ball screen coverage on me as the game went on, as Evan started making those perimeter jumpers they were kind of reluctant to stay on me and hedge so long, so they kind of loosened up their coverage a little bit so that allowed me to get a little space," Eaddy said.

And with the poise he's played with this season and the big shots he's hit over the last week -- including the game-winner at UCLA last Saturday -- it was no surprise that last play call was designed for him. He just never got the chance to get a final shot off this time.

"We played very hard tonight, we got back in the game, we tied it up ... we had our chances and then they made a few more shots, and I was very proud of our team how we fought back at the end the last three minutes. We tied it up again. So, look, we battled," Enfield said. "That was a very physical basketball game and they just made the last play. It was a tip-in, and we actually executed our last play pretty well and I thought Tahj got pushed in the back but there was no call. So we'll move on, get ready for Indianapolis."

If there is a positive to take away from the Trojans' abbreviated two-game run in Las Vegas this weekend, it was the play of Evan Mobley on the offensive end. The Pac-12 Player of the Year has been a great defender all season, and he's diligently played within the offense, taking his shots when they're there. But many have felt USC needs Mobley to be even more aggressive in hunting his own shots, and that's the way he played these two games.

For that reason, one could even come away from this Pac-12 tournament more encouraged about the Trojans' upside for the NCAA tournament if this is the take-charge version of Mobley they're going to get the rest of the way. He certainly proved he's ready for the postseason stage.

"He's been very aggressive offensively. He's played really well. I asked him if he needed a break at the 12-minute mark, it was a timeout, he said he didn't need one. He played 39 minutes tonight, so just a guy to be able to play that long and that well with that type of stamina is pretty impressive for someone that big," Enfield said. "He exerts so much energy on both sides of the ball. So very proud of Evan, his development, he's really improved as a player throughout the season and we are going to need him to play at this level starting at the end of this week."

As for his team's overall outlook heading into Indianapolis, which is hosting the whole NCAA tournament this year, Enfield shared his message to his team.

"We're very, very proud of what they've accomplished this year to put themselves in this position. Sure we would have liked to have won this game tonight, but we didn't, so we have to keep our heads up," he said. "Our players have to realize they've accomplished at lot. At the same time it's a new season -- everybody is going to be one-and-done once they get to Indianapolis, and they have to realize that every possession will matter whenever we play our first game."