The last sequence summed up the overall performance well for USC on Tuesday afternoon -- unfortunately.
The Trojans came out of a timeout with 15.7 seconds remaining, down 2 points on the road at Oregon State, with a couple options for a game-tying or game-winning shot. Like much of the game overall, however, it didn't go as planned for the visitors.
Drew Peterson took the inbounds pass and drove around a screen from Evan Mobley, before lobbing a high pass to the 7-footer down low. By the time he corralled it and gathered himself, two defenders had closed in, so Mobley kicked it back out to Peterson at the top of the key. He had a wide-open shot but hesitated, instead waiting to duck past a defender's close-out before hitting back iron on his 3-point attempt.
That was both the end of the game -- a 58-56 Oregon State win in Corvallis, Ore. -- and the end of the Trojans' six-game winning streak as USC dropped to 11-3 overall and 5-2 in the Pac-12.
It was also a season-low scoring output for USC.
As for the final play, it didn't go exactly as coach Andy Enfield expected.
"We put our shooters in the corners and put Drew up high on the ball screen with Evan. It was either going to be a quick pass back to Evan for an isolation at the elbow, or if Drew kept penetrating he would roll. He actually had the lob over the top -- the big man helped on the drive -- and Drew just didn't see him. It was an easy lob over the top, could have been an easy dunk," Enfield said. "We still got the ball to Evan and he was under the basket and he didn't try to score, unfortunately. And we still had plenty of time. He threw it out to Drew, and Drew caught the ball with 6.5 seconds left and I don't know if he fumbled it -- he had a wide-open shot when he got it and he had a close-out and then he ended up taking a tough shot. Ideally, we'd like to execute a little better than that."
Again, the same could be said for the game overall.
USC shot just 36 percent from the field in the first half, including 0 for 9 from 3-point range, and consequently fell into a 31-23 halftime deficit. The Trojans shot it much better the rest of the way (47.8 percent in the second half, 6 of 11 from 3), but they couldn't hit the ones they needed down the stretch.
Point guard Ethan Anderson hit a big 3 to tie the game at 54-54 with 3:41 left, but he then missed the front end of a one-and-one on the Trojans' next possession.
USC's last basket came with 2:19 left on a dunk by Mobley to tie it at 56-56. Oregon State's Rodrigue Andela promptly got to the line and knocked down two free throws to give the Beavers (7-5, 3-3) the lead.
The Trojans then got multiple looks on the other end as Peterson missed in the paint, Ethan Anderson missed a 3, and after another offensive rebound by Isaiah Mobley, Anderson turned it over with an offensive foul.
They'd get only one more offensive possession after a final Beavers miss -- that final sequence that didn't go quite according to script.
"That was a tough league game on the road. It's never easy," Enfield said. "I thought we made it very challenging for ourselves because our first-half offense was very inefficient with turnovers and missed shots, and we put ourselves in position to be in a close game. We fouled them down the stretch and still had our chances, but we lost a tough game on the road."
Evan Mobley led USC with 12 points, 13 rebounds and 2 blocks, while Peterson (10 points) was the only other Trojan to finish in double figures.
USC had just scored 95 and 85 points, respectively, in wins over Washington and Washington State last week. But the Trojans have had rough offensive stretches at times this season -- namely in the losses and an overtime win over UC Riverside.
"Our playmaking really struggled tonight. We turned the ball over in the first half too many times -- did a good job in the second taking care of the ball -- and then we missed wide-open 3s," Enfield said. "They were doubling our bigs, so we either had to score quickly or get the ball out, and I thought the ball was sticking a little bit too much. There was some open guys. And then when we did hit the open man we didn't make the shot. It's hard to win when you shoot that poor percentage in the first half -- 0 for 9 from 3 -- and then have that many turnovers. ...
"There's been stretches in certain games this year when we go into these droughts. Can't pinpoint it on one person or two people. It's just a team effort and we have to keep working at it."
