Trojans make early Pac-12 statement with huge comeback vs. Stanford
If this USC basketball team turns this into a special season, this will be the moment everyone points back to for the Trojans.
Down 20 points at halftime against a Stanford team that has emerged as an early favorite in the Pac-12. Down 7 points with a little less more than 2 minutes remaining in the second half. Leading scorer and rebounder Onyeka Okongwu fouled out early in overtime.
None of that mattered Saturday afternoon as USC exhibited compelling resilience and showed that it too might need to be looked at as a top challenger in the conference.
The Trojans earned their most significant win of the season so far, rallying back and back again for an 82-78 overtime victory over the Cardinal inside the Galen Center.
USC (15-3, 4-1 Pac-12) has won nine out of 10 overall -- and is now tied with Stanford atop the conference -- but it's not just that the Trojans found a way to claim victory again Saturday. It's how they did it.
Senior guard Jonah Mathews, whom USC badly needs to be a consistent tone-setter from the perimeter, delivered another clutch performance with 19 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals.
Okongwu, the freshman leader of this squad, spurred the initial comeback and finished with a team-high 22 points and 9 rebounds on 8-of-11 shooting before fouling out.
And Elijah Weaver, the sophomore guard who hadn't scored in double figures since Nov. 29, tied a season-high with 13 points -- most of those crucial and pivotal down the stretch.
"Well, I hope you guys enjoyed that one -- I certainly did," Trojans coach Andy Enfield said afterward. "That was a classic game. I haven't been part of too many like that where you get down by 20 and play very poorly, and then you play great. They're a very good team. Just the way it ended, we were down at the end, got a couple steals, made some shots and we made some big ones in overtime. What a great college basketball game."
The ending was indeed one to remember.
Stanford (15-3, 4-1) led 69-64 and had possession with under 15 seconds left after Mathews missed a 3-pointer.
But Ethan Anderson intercepted the ensuing inbounds pass and fed Mathews in the paint. He missed the layup, but Okongwu cleaned it up for a second-chance basket to make it 69-66. Mathews then stole the next inbounds pass at midcourt and got it to Weaver for a game-tying 3 from the right wing. He was fouled on the play and had a chance to give USC a lead with 7.3 seconds left, but he missed the free throw and the game went to overtime, where Weaver carried that momentum over to score eight more points in the extra session.
His 11 points from the final moments of the second half through overtime is more than he had scored in any game since putting up 12 in that late November win over Marquette. He had been moved to the bench the last three games in favor of Utomi, and Enfield says he's gotten the desired response from that move.
"The last three games he's played terrific basketball. We need him to step up and play like a sophomore," Enfield said. "He was too passive. That's why we took him out of the starting lineup. He's playing great basketball right now, and we need that because he's so talented. It doesn't matter who starts on our team, by the way. They all play starters minutes anyways. Some nights with our depth, certain guys step up ... That's been the story of our season. So very proud of Elijah -- he's a developing player, but wow was he good late in the game tonight."
Said Weaver: "I kind of just stayed confident. I wasn't playing that much, I was coming off the bench. ... Just time to win, time to be clutch. Gotta make big plays in big games."
Stanford had led 45-25 at halftime and was playing nearly flawlessly, running crisp offensive sets, making things difficult for the Trojans inside and riding all the momentum, especially after Tyrell Terry drained a long 3-pointer at the buzzer to add to that halftime advantage.
But the Trojans were far from done.
"Well my father was a ninth-grade coach and varsity coach in the state of Pennsylvania for many years, and he had a very deep voice and I tried to use my dad's deep voice at halftime and I almost passed out," Enfield said. "I yelled very loudly and our players responded, but they deserve the credit."
"He was getting after us a little bit," Weaver acknowledged. "Just to change our mentality -- we needed it."
An Anderson 3-pointer, an Okongwu dunk, a Daniel Utomi 3 and two free throws from Okongwu made for a 10-1 run to start the second half.
USC kept whittling that deficit down further.
Freshman Isaiah Mobley, who has had an up-and-down debut season and who has lamented his poor free throw shooting, came up clutch to help spur the comeback further.
It was off his rebound that Mathews hit a key 3 to cut the deficit to 59-51, and Mobley then went 4 for 4 from the line over the next couple minutes to draw the Trojans to within 60-56 with 6:25 to play. A Mobley offensive rebound and layup kept it close at 62-58 on the next possession, and suddenly it was anybody's game.
Anderson made a tough layup off a feed from Okongwu to draw to within 62-60, but it looked like the Trojans' comeback might be running out of steam.
Oscar da Silva made a layup and a 3 from the top of the key and just like that Stanford had a 67-60 lead with a little more than 2 minutes left.
Again, the Trojans were far from done.
Mathews hit a key jumper with his foot just on the line and then drained a fall-away jumper to keep it close at 67-64.
Stanford got a fortuitous layup on the other end after da Silva was stripped of the ball, but it went right to Kisunas to make it 69-64. And when Mathews missed a corner 3 with 15.2 on the clock, with Stanford grabbing the rebound, it looked like it might be over.
Again, the Trojans were far from done.
Anderson intercepted that ensuing inbounds pass leading to the Okongwu layup with 10.7 seconds left, and Mathews then stole the next inbounds pass at midcourt and got it to Weaver for the game-tying 3 from the right wing. Fouled on the play, he had a chance to give USC a lead with 7.3 seconds left, but he missed the free throw and the game went to overtime.
"As soon as he caught it, I just ran and spotted up," Weaver said. "I looked for a quick second to see how many points we needed, and soon as he caught it I ran and spotted up."
And this time, Weaver was far from done.
The sophomore guard, who has yet to really assert himself at USC, got into the paint for a layup and free throw early in the extra period to give USC a 72-71 lead -- it's first lead since being up 10-7 early in the first half.
Mathews and Stanford's Spencer Jones traded 3s, and then Weaver got fouled on a step-back 3. After missing that potential game-winning free throw at the end of regulation, he stayed locked in from the line and hit all three foul shots for a 78-74 Trojans lead with 1:33 on the clock.
Terry hit two free throws with 40.8 left for Stanford, but Weaver followed with a left-handed reverse layup to make it 80-76.
Terry scored a second-chance basket with 5.1 left, but Utomi sealed the win with two free throws for USC at the other end.
While he struggled with his shot, hitting just 6 of 18 from the field, Mathews, nonetheless continues to provide a spark and is averaging 18 points over the last three games.
"Jonah just made some huge plays down the stretch ... It was his competitive spirit that helped will his teammates to stay in the game and eventually win it," Enfield said.
Anderson added 11 points and 4 assists and Mobley finished with a clutch 6 points and 5 rebounds, hitting his only attempt from the field and 4 of 6 from the line.
Stanford was led by da Silva, who finished with 21 points and 9 rebounds.
"Certainly it was our biggest win of the year the way it unfolded and how we came back," Enfield said.