Tonight, in an 81-73 home win against the similarly middling Arizona State University Sun Devils (14-16), your 13-17 USC Trojans submitted the kind of superlative performance we've needed to see a lot more of this season, frankly.
And although it was a team effort rooted in upperclassman moxie, the anchor of the club's attack was the guy we all expected to take a major leap this season, fifth-year senior guard Boogie Ellis.
Hampered by a hamstring injury for much of 2024, Ellis had until recently been unable to score with the ease to which he'd grown accustomed.
But now, he looks to be finally, fully, and truly back. He scored a game-high 28 points while shooting 8-of-12 shooting (including an eye-popping 6-of-8 from long range) and 6-of-8 from the charity stripe, while also chipping in three assists, two rebounds and a steal for good measure. 20 of those 28 points arrived in the game's second half.
The two clubs were knotted after the first two quarters, 32-32, at the halftime break. Junior small forward Kobe Johnson, who hasn't blossomed as a scorer the way many of us were hoping he would this season, flashed some intriguing upside on that end of the court, with Isaiah Collier operating more as a facilitator than a scorer tonight. Johnson finished with 15 points on 5-of-9 field goal shooting (3-of-5 from three point land) and 2-of-2 free throw shooting.
An Ellis breakout offensively and some timely paint defense helped the club gallop to a 49-41 scoring advantage in the second half. The fact that he was thriving both beyond the arc and inside the paint was a sight to see:
Joshua Morgan made his presence felt inside with this demoralizing rejection late:
The Trojans have exactly one shot at making the NCAA Tournament this year: flat-out winning the Pac-12 Tournament. To do that, the Cardinal and Gold will need to show that they can actually beat their inter-conference rivals. This win against ASU, during the club's penultimate regular season bout, represents an encouraging step.
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