Andy Enfield laments late missed opportunities as Colorado holds off USC
Earlier this week, USC basketball coach Andy Enfield talked about the tough beats his team has endured on the road. The double-overtime loss at Oregon, a tight one at Arizona and a game the Trojans simply gave away at Arizona State.
Well, add another what-could-have-been to the list.
After being embarrassed at home earlier this month by Colorado, the Trojans went into Boulder, Colo., on Thursday night just a game back of first place in the Pac-12 and played the No. 18 Buffaloes down to the wire.
But a stagnant penultimate possession leading to a bad 3-point attempt and then a traveling turnover with a chance to tie the game with just 7.2 seconds to play added up to a familiar disappointment as host Colorado held on for a 70-66 win.
Afterward, Enfield didn't mince words.
"You have to step up and make plays. Players win games, they have to step and make plays down the stretch, defensively, offensively," he said. "As coaches, we give them all the credit in the world -- when they win, it's because of them. Colorado stepped up and made some plays and we didn't -- that was the difference in the game."
Colorado (21-6, 9-4 Pac-12) made a lot of plays -- mostly from long distance as it shot 60.7 percent overall in the second half and 8 of 14 from 3-point range, including hitting 7 of their first 9 3s after halftime to gain control of the game.
The Buffaloes led by as many as 12 points with a little more than 8 minutes remaining, but the Trojans (19-8, 8-6) nearly came all the way back.
After going down by that 60-48 margin, USC answered right back with a 10-2 run as Nick Rakocevic converted a layup off a nice feed from Elijah Weaver, Daniel Utomi hit two free throws, Jonah Mathews sank a spinning, awkward short jumper, Weaver drained a floater and Onyeka Okongwu banked one in to cut the deficit to 62-58 with plenty of time left.
(The only Colorado points in that spurt came on a putback dunk from Tyler Bey, who raced unimpeded from the perimeter for the easy follow-up slam -- a play Enfield would highlight later in recounting his team's mental mistakes.)
It was later a 6-point game when Mathews swished a catch-and-shoot 3 from the top of the key, and Okongwu then turned an offensive rebound into a dunk to cut the Buffs' lead to 67-66.
That's when things started to unravel for USC.
Colorado point guard McKinley Wright score on a smooth floater coming out of a timeout to make it 69-66, while the Trojans' subsequent designed play ... didn't go so well.
Enfield put the ball in the hands of Weaver, who at times has looked like the Trojans' most skilled facilliator but who hasn't been the team's primary point guard. The play bogged down with Weaver dribbling down the clock from the left wing and putting up an errant 3 off the front of the rim. Enfield said the play was supposed to result in Okongwu getting a look inside.
"We drew a play up in the timeout and we put all five guys in position and he went to the wrong side," Enfield said. "So if he wants to be a lead guard in this league you've got to be able to come out in game-time situations when the game's on the line and follow directions, go to the right side of the floor so we can get the ball to our big guy. He went to the wrong side and everybody else is in the right position. So I'm not going to make excuses -- mental mistakes, if you want to win games on the road, especially if you're a lead guard in the Pac-12 as a sophomore, you've got to be able to follow the darn board on the timeout, come out of the timeout and execute what we draw up."
Enfield didn't save his pointed critiques just for Weaver.
Meanwhile, it was still a 3-point game and Wright would miss on the other end, but in grabbing the rebound Rakocevic came down on the baseline and was whistled out of bounds, giving it back to Colorado. USC immediately fouled Lucas Siewert with 18.3 seconds on the clock and he missed the front end of a one-and-one, keeping it a 3-point game.
This time, Enfield wanted to get the ball to Utomi, the grad transfer guard who was coming off his best performance of the season with 23 points the previous game. Utomi would get the ball on the right wing, but he hesitated on taking the initial look and eventually got whistled for a travel with 7.2 seconds left.
That was effectively the end of the game as Wright hit a free throw on the other end to make it a two-possession game.
"We draw up a play for him to [take] the 3, we set a good screen for him, he was there, he could have shot it off the pass, he shot-faked and then he could have shot, he would have been wide open after he took the dribble, but he called a travel. Look, these games come down to little mental mistakes and sometimes the other team makes the shots and you don't," Enfield said. "... So it is frustrating, but it comes down to mental mistakes. We made some crucial mistakes defensively, and when the game's on the line offensively you've got to execute. I'm very, very disappointed that we draw a play up in the timeout and we can't come out and run what we draw up."
Enfield also lamented Okongwu not boxing out Bey on that putback dunk earlier (and not being aggressive enough on the boards in general), Rakocevic not coming down with that late rebound in bounds, Rakocevic and freshman forward Isaiah Mobley switching off Siewert to allow him open 3s that he drained, and so on.
USC had actually jumped out to a 20-6 lead early before taking a more modest 29-26 advantage into halftime, before Colorado's 3-point binge swung the game the other way.
It was a marked difference overall from the Buffaloes' 78-57 win over USC earlier this month at Galen Center, but in the end it was still just another loss -- and more to the point, another opportunity lost.
Okongwu led USC with 21 points on 10-of-13 shooting along with 5 rebounds and 4 steals in his return to action after missing two games with a concussion.
"He played really well offensively tonight. We gave him the ball quite often, we tried to get him the ball [on the play Weaver took the 3 on] but our point guard went to the wrong side of the floor. He played very well offensively tonight. He shot a high percentage," Enfield said. "Defensively, he didn't box out Tyler Bey a couple crucial times [and] only had 2 defensive rebounds. We expect more from him."
Meanwhile, Mathews finished with 17 points, Rakocevic added 14 points and 11 rebounds with all but 2 points coming in the first half, and Utomi scored 10. USC hit just 2 of 11 3-pointers in the loss.
Colorado had five scorers in double figures, with Wright (15 points) and Bey (14 points, 11 rebounds) leading the way.
USC now drops two games behind the Buffaloes in the standings with four games to go, meaning the Trojans' regular-season Pac-12 title hopes are likely over. They now need to make sure they close strong to secure an NCAA tournament berth, which isn't a done deal yet by any means.
They'll look to bounce back Sunday at Utah.
"We like our team as coaches," Enfield said, softening his tone after his extensive critiques. "They always bounce back, they care and they really play hard."
