The Trojans notched their first win of the season defeating the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles on Monday night at the Galen Center, but the young squad still needs to clean up some of its sloppy play moving forward.Â
Bouncing Back
After falling 76-68 to Portland State on Saturday, the Trojans made a quick turnaround to get the W at home just two days later. Katin Reinhardt led the team in shooting with 19 points and four rebounds, while freshman Jordan McLaughlin had another impressive night scoring 15 points with four rebounds and seven assists. "Losing the first game I think sparked a different kind of energy amongst everybody," said Reinhardt. "I think everybody did a really good job of just letting it go. We couldn't wait to play tonight."
Fresh, Fast Start
Much of the change between the two games can be attributed to USC's intensity out of the gate. The Trojans opened the night outscoring the Golden Eagles 18-8 in the first eight minutes before being stalled by another tidal wave of turnovers. McLaughlin led the team during this run with six points courtesy of a transition three that sparked the Trojan offense early. The freshman wasn't the only one putting points on the board early, as everyone who played in the first half scored.Â
More Turnovers, More Problems
While USC improved slightly on its turnover tendency from Saturday, it still gave the ball up 17 times, something the coaching staff is focusing on as the season continues. "These kids are trying but they have to understand that when they hold the ball, when they dribble too much, when you're not setting screens and you're not flowing, it really creates turnovers," said Enfield. "I was happier in the second half because we limited our turnovers, but we just can't win when you turn the ball over 17 times like we did tonight."
Here are the SnappyTV highlights from the Trojans' first win...
