Three weeks again from its prolonged layoff, two losses after its undefeated begin was spoiled by Stanford, USC appeared to have lastly discovered its footing. The protection that ranked among the many nation’s finest earlier than its COVID-19 pause was again on monitor. The final three groups to face USC had limped to the end line, stunted by its suffocating strain and buried by a Trojans barrage from the perimeter.
However on Thursday, in a return assembly with Stanford, that effort took USC solely up to now in a 64-61 defeat, bringing Isaiah Mobley to the stripe with an opportunity to tie with two free throws.
He hit the primary, just for the whistle to blow forward of his second. A Stanford timeout gave him a full minute to contemplate what was on the road, however Mobley tried to maintain his thoughts clear. When he returned, Mobley took a deep breath. And clanked the free throw off the again of the rim.
As soon as extra, Mobley had the ball in his fingers with an opportunity to tie. Within the nook, an open Boogie Ellis tried to get his consideration. However Mobley didn’t see him. A chaotic remaining sequence had left USC frantic and Mobley lifting off for a deep heave on the buzzer. It clanked off the rim, too.
“I felt like I acquired look,” Mobley mentioned. “It simply didn’t go down.”
It was a becoming finish to a sport that would’ve turned in any variety of instructions. After Stanford got here out scorching, USC (17-3) dominated over the ultimate stretch of the primary half. The 2 groups traded punches within the second, with the largest lead of the half stretching to 4. However it was the Cardinal who struck final as Harrison Ingram minimize by USC’s protection with 33 seconds left, laying within the go-ahead basket.
The defeat was a crippling blow amid a bounce-back stretch for USC, which had gained three in a row heading into Thursday. After holding its final three opponents to 35% or much less from the sphere, USC’s protection was uncovered by Stanford within the second half. The Cardinal shot 50% after halftime, higher even than its capturing output from earlier this month, when the Trojans’ 14-0 begin was upended in Palo Alto simply as USC tried to search out its footing after the COVID pause.
There was no such excuse on Thursday. USC turned the ball over 14 occasions, its sixth straight sport with double-digit turnovers. It was outrebounded, 29-27. And for seven of the ultimate 10 minutes, the Trojans couldn’t handle a single basket from the sphere, giving Stanford all the possibility it wanted to chop them down once more.
It didn’t appear Stanford would even get that likelihood early, not after USC flipped a well-known change within the first half, placing one other gradual begin behind it to fireside off a 15-0 run during which the Cardinal missed 12 straight photographs.
However that change short-circuited within the second half.
“We had too many lapses down the stretch,” mentioned Drew Peterson, who completed with a team-high 14 factors. “We have been taking part in actually good ball earlier than the half. We got here out stagnant.”
It wasn’t all that totally different from the best way USC had opened the sport, once more succumbing to a gradual begin that required a triumphant comeback. The Trojans had made a behavior lately of falling right into a gap early, solely to climb their approach out. On Thursday, that meant handing the Cardinal full management by the primary 10 minutes, with Stanford capturing 73% from the sphere.
“We are able to’t come out flat anymore,” mentioned Mobley, who had 9 factors, seven rebounds and 9 assists. “It takes rather a lot out of us simply to come back again.”
With three Pac-12 losses in seven video games, the Trojans have already tumbled from the place they stood after their final loss to Stanford. The query now, after a sweep by the hands of the Cardinal, is whether or not they have what’s essential to climb again as soon as once more.
“We are able to’t take these video games with no consideration,” Peterson mentioned. “We gotta actually lock within the particulars.”
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