USC coach Andy Enfield has made it clear enough this season that he doesn't see the merit in questions about star freshman Evan Mobley's offensive aggressiveness -- in whatever form -- but it had to be asked again on Thursday night.

Because this time, the newly-minted Pac-12 Player of the Year simply took over the game when it mattered most in the Trojans' postseason opener while looking as assertive and dominant as he has perhaps all year.

Mobley scored 13 of USC's 20 points over the two overtime periods as USC escaped some missed opportunities, missed free throws and a pesky Utah team to close out a 91-85 win in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas, Nev.

The No. 2-seeded Trojans (22-6) advance to a semifinals matchup Friday night against No. 3 Colorado, which won both of the teams' regular-season meetings.

The Trojans will have that opportunity -- rather than wondering how this game got away from them -- because Mobley was simply sublime, finishing with 26 points, 9 rebounds and 5 blocks despite sitting most of the first half with early foul trouble. Those 26 points were a season-high for the 7-footer, who deservedly became the first player in Pac-12 history to be named the conference's Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season earlier this week.

"Evan played an all-around game. He was just spectacular on offense, he was under control, he shot when he needed to, he passed it when they doubled him and then he made his free throws -- I think he was 11 of 14. He also made a couple of jumpshots. I think you saw the whole offensive repertoire," Enfield said. "I just thought he played an unbelievable game in the second half and the two overtimes."

Mobley has been spectacular most of the season, in general. He's keyed one of the better defensive units in the country, he moves so smoothly and agilely for his size it's easy to see why the NBA scouts are tantalized, he's a skilled passer, a plus rebounder and he's thrown down some memorable dunks along the way.

But he hasn't always put the offense on his back like he did Thursday night. (He memorably had 0 field goal attempts period in the Trojans' first meeting with Utah back in early January, when the Utes double-teamed him much more than they did in this one).

Whenever the topic has come up, Enfield always notes that when Mobley is double-teamed, as he has been plenty this season, he simply makes the right decision to pass the ball out. And that's fair -- but it doesn't mean there aren't also times the Trojans could use the best player in the conference and a projected NBA lottery pick being a little more aggressive in prioritizing his own shot, when in most scenarios it certainly seems like a higher percentage play for USC than many alternatives. (Especially given Mobley's skill at the foul line -- as Enfield noted, he connected on 11 of 14 on free throws Thursday).

Mobley hadn't scored more than 13 points in any of USC's previous five games and had only attempted double-digit shots in two of them. He was 7 of 14 from the field in this one, tying his season-high for attempts in a conference game.

So again, the question ... was there any specific conversation at halftime or even entering the tournament to have him be more assertive on the offensive end?

"No. He was well rested because he had two fouls, we sat him, we played well without him and then he came in and did what he always has done. He's aggressive. You might not think he's aggressive sometimes because of his facial expressions, but he was very aggressive tonight," Enfield said. "He played a great game against UCLA and Stanford last week, so I thought as I said he showed his full repertoire of offensive moves tonight. And he's such an unselfish player -- he understands that he has to pass it when other people are open and they're double-teaming him and I thought he took the opportunity to score the ball himself tonight when it was there and also pass the ball. He only had one turnover. Previously when we played Utah and a few games that we lost, when he has 4-5 turnovers we struggle, so I think he did just a terrific job with the basketball in hands tonight."

No question about that -- the freshman was sensational.

Mobley, meanwhile, seemed to suggest that after being limited to 7 minutes in the first half after picking up a couple quick fouls, that he was especially eager to make his mark on this game after halftime.

"I just tried to stay focused. Some of those calls I can't really control -- the game is the game -- so I just stayed focused, stayed locked in, tried to encourage my teammates while they were playing without me for the time being, and then in the second half I just tried to come in and attack," he said. "I was well-rested because I was out for a while, so that was my main focus."

That first-half breather for Mobley might have proved fortuitous for the Trojans, who definitely needed everything he was able to provide late.

USC never trailed after halftime, going up by as many as 10 points with more than 12 minutes remaining after back-to-back 3s from Tahj Eaddy and Isaiah Mobley.

But the No. 7-seeded Utes (12-13) were pesky all night. They had beat the Trojans a couple weeks ago in Salt Lake City to split the regular-season series, and they would not go away in this one, keeping the margin within 6 for the final 8:30 of regulation.

A pair of Eaddy free throws put USC's lead at 71-67 with 26.3 seconds left, but Timmy Allen rebounded his own miss and followed with a make to cut it to 2 with 16 seconds left. The Utes then immediately fouled Ethan Anderson on the inbounds, sending him to the line with 14.3 seconds left.

He missed both, opening the door for Utah to tie or steal the game. After a timeout, Ian Martinez was fouled on a drive and sent to the line with 2.3 seconds left, making both to tie it. Isaiah White got off a long heave for USC at the buzzer and it came close, hitting off the top of the back iron, but the game was headed to overtime.

Evan Mobley had 5 of USC's 9 points in the first OT, all from the foul line, but Utah extended the game again on set play for Alfonso Plummer, who took a handoff from Allen, settled and knocked down a clutch 3 to tie the game at 80-80 with 30.9 seconds left.

Enfield called timeout to get the Trojans set for the final play, which ended up being an isolation for Eaddy, who dribbled down the clock, couldn't find anybody open and drove to the rim for a layup that just caromed too hard off the backboard to send the game to the second overtime.

"[Plummer] hit a terrific shot. We contested it, two people were on him and that was just a great shot by him. He's hard to stop," Enfield said. "... We still had the last chance to win it. Tahj missed that layup -- I thought that was going to go in, but we felt we had the game maybe in regulation and then at the end of the first overtime. So our players were very calm and focused. Sometimes it can be deflating if you think you won the game or had a great chance to win it, and we had that happen twice to us. So our players did just an outstanding job of staying tough, staying focused and playing winning basketball in that second overtime."

By that point, Utah had already had three players from its seven-man rotation foul out -- Martinez (18 points on 7-of-10 shooting), forward Riley Battin (7 points) and forward Mikael Jantunen (10 points). Allen (team-high 20 points and 13 rebounds) would also foul out in that second overtime. USC, meanwhile, had only lost Isaiah White (14 points, 5 rebounds).

The game plan was simple at that point.

"The main focus was to get me the ball and play-make out of it," Evan Mobley said. "The guy who was guarding me had four fouls, I'm pretty sure, so I was just trying to go at him and attack him, hopefully get a foul and foul him out or just get layups, and if they double-teamed kick it out to my teammates."

Mobley put the Trojans up quickly on a mid-range jumper from the left side, Branden Carlson tied it with a jumper for Utah, and Mobley then corralled a missed 3 from Anderson, saw an open lane and threw down a 2-handed dunk as his brother boxed out the nearest defender to make it an 84-82 lead.

Eventually, Utah ran out of answers. Mobley added a free throw on the next possession, made an emphatic block at the other end with the score at 85-83 and later had a strong take inside with his left hand to make it 87-83 with 46 seconds left. After the Utes missed a 3, Drew Peterson added a free throw for the Trojans, Mobley hit another and Peterson tacked on two more to close out the win.

"It was a long game, a hard game. That's what March Madness, the postseason is," Mobley said. "There's going to be a lot of big shots, lot of overtimes, hard games, so you've just got to push through, stay tough and stay focused."

While Mobley was sitting out with those two fouls the remainder of the first half, White helped key the Trojans early on while scoring 9 of his 14 points before halftime. Eaddy and Peterson both finished with 13 points in the game, Isaiah Mobley had 11 points and 7 rebounds and Anderson chipped in 10 points.

"Very challenging game, both teams played very well. Give Utah credit, they've been playing very good basketball late in the season here and it took everything we had to pull out this win," Enfield said. "Our guys showed a lot of heart tonight to go double overtime and we're happy that we're moving on."

After such a physically -- and perhaps mentally -- draining game, Enfield was asked how he'll manage the immediate turnaround with the semifinals matchup Friday night.

"Well, our guys are going to be playing big minutes again tomorrow so they better be ready," he said.