Your USC Trojans absolutely stole a 62-56 victory over the UCLA Bruins on Saturday, much to the absolute astonishment of pretty much every prognosticator (including yours truly).
In scoring a team-best 24 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the field (3-of-7 from long range) plus 3-of-7 from the foul line, super-senior point guard Boogie Ellis was the game's MVP. But to hear him tell it, the 6'2" guard was still seething about his performance this season in one particular statistical category, according to Luca Evans of The Orange County Register.
“I’ve let my team down this year when it comes to rebounding … coming here forward, I’m going to try to really emphasize helping out on the boards,” Ellis said.
He had five boards Saturday for the now-11-16 Trojans (5-11 in the Pac-12), tied for the most on the team along with fellow fifth-year senior DJ Rodman, the club's starting small forward.
Next up for the Trojans, who can only qualify for March Madness if they win the Pac-12 Tournament outright, is a meeting with a matchup against the No. 21-ranked Washington State Cougars (21-7), currently the No. 2 seed in the conference. Their meeting is slated for Thursday in Beasley Coliseum.
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