Basketball: No. 5 USC takes second loss of the week as Oregon starts hot
After USC's worst performance of the season, coach Andy Enfield said he was just thankful to have some upcoming practice time.
It's been rocky relaunch for the No. 5-ranked Trojans, who went 19 days between games due to their COVID shutdown, losing significant practice time in that span, as they're now 2-2 since returning to action following a 79-69 loss to Oregon on Saturday night at Galen Center.
USC (14-2, 4-2 Pac-12) had three games in five days this week while trying to make up for lost time, and that resulted in a loss at Stanford, a come-from-behind win over Oregon State after trailing by 10 in the second half, and this defeat to the streaking Ducks.
Oregon (11-6, 4-2) has now won five straight games, including road wins at No. 3 UCLA and the No. 5 Trojans, becoming the first team since Clemson in January of 1976 with two wins over top-five teams on the road in a five-day span.
"The lack of practice time has hurt us because of the COVID pause, but our players have to play as hard as they can and figure it out," Enfield said. "We have to get some practice time in. The nice thing is we'll have three days of practice before we go again and we have to get back to some of our basic defensive drills we do and schemes and offensively get a better flow."
Senior guard Will Richardson led Oregon with 28 points on 9-of-15 shooting (5 of 8 from 3-point range), De'Vion Harmon scored 16 and center N'Faly Dante had 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting.
Isaiah Mobley led USC with 18 points and 9 rebounds and Boogie Ellis also scored 18, but he shot just 7 of 21 from the field. Drew Peterson was the only other Trojan in double-figures with 10 points.
Oregon needed just 5 minutes to build a double-digit lead Saturday night, going up 18-8 after hitting 7 of its first 10 shots (including 3 of its first 4 3-pointers).
The game never got closer than 5 points the rest of the way, when Boogie Ellis hit back-to-back 3s for USC late in the first half, but the Ducks immediately answered that with a 13-2 run to close the half up 45-29.
Richardson and Eric Williams both hit 3s in the final minute of the half to punctuate Oregon's hot start as the Ducks hit 7 of 11 3s in the opening half and shot 56.7 percent from the field before halftime.
Richardson was the catalyst, going 4-for-4 from 3-point range in the half while scoring 19 of his points over those first 20 minutes.
USC didn't mount much of a comeback the rest of the way. An 11-3 run, spurred by 7 points from Mobley, got the Trojans to within 9 with a little less than 5 minutes to play, but they couldn't get it any closer.
"Tough game for us. We got off to a very slow start and Oregon really shot extremely well in the first half, so give them credit. They came out and seemed like they made every jump shot and every floater they took for the first 10 minutes. And they finished the half strong," Enfield said. "Being down that much at halftime is tough to overcome. We had our chances in the second half. Every time we had a chance to cut it ... we just didn't do it. Oregon outplayed us tonight. Give them credit."
Since starting 13-0 and surging to No. 5 in the AP poll for the program's highest ranking since 1974, the Trojans have hit their first blip of on-court adversity this season.
They next play at Colorado on Thursday.
"I feel like these games, we kind of need them to see what it's like to hit some adversity," Ellis said. "Adversity helps you get better. We've got to lock in going into practice and now we know what we have to work on and get better at. Sometimes when you take some losses it helps you become better as a team."
Said Mobley: "I just think we've got to come out with some fire. I don't think there's any one thing to point it at. We've just got to lock into the scout and to the details, and sometimes we've got to come out with urgency."
NOTES: USC had announced on Friday that veteran forward Chevez Goodwin had been named team captain for the rest of the season. Enfield expounded on that after that game Saturday night.
"It was a staff decision. Chevez for a year and a half has led by example every day in practice, every game, he plays hard every possession. I thought the other night when he had nine offensive rebounds and just the grit to help us come back and the toughness, he encourages his teammates. He's not a big vocal guy -- he just leads by example, and I think we all appreciate that. He plays like a team captain," Enfield said. "He leads us in the weight room, he leads us on the court, and we thought it would be appropriate the last half of the season to make him a team captain because he deserves it."