Written by Sarah Bergstrom, USC blog contributor
The Trojans snapped their nine-game losing streak and defeated the Beavers in impressive fashion on Valentine's Day.
Click here for a full recap of Saturday's game.
Love & Basketball
USC has now won five consecutive games on Valentine's Day, a unique streak to be sure, but one that had the team in good spirits on Saturday. The emphasis from the coaching staff heading into the battle with the Beavers was that it was a "must-win" match-up. With three players in double-digits, 19 assists and 38 rebounds, it was clear that each member of the Trojan unit took that mentality to heart. For the first time in a long time, the team played athletic, fast-paced, high-intensity basketball, and it looked very comfortable doing so. USC held Oregon State to just 32.8 percent shooting from the field, including holding leading scorer Gary Payton II to just 5-of-14 from the field for 11 points. "It's big for our team," said head coach Andy Enfield after the game. "The young guys really stepped up today. We had great effort, we made the shots we had to and the defensive effort especially in the second half was impressive."
Stewart's Sweet Tooth
Elijah Stewart was hungry for a good game on Saturday, being inserted into the starting lineup for the first time in over a month. The freshman guard, who has struggled to find his shot recently, hit his first three-point attempt of the game and never looked back, finishing 5-of-10 from the three-point line with 19 points. Stewart was the X-factor for the Trojans, adding three blocks, four assists, and three steals to his final tally. He is now tied for first (with Payton) amongst guards for blocks in the conference with a season total of 26. "Every time I play I look forward to making an impact on the game," explained Stewart. "Starting today gave me a chance to be aggressive from the start. I got to set the tone for the team."
All Heart
Remarkably, USC's two conference wins have come in games that did not feature Jordan McLaughlin. While the Trojans undoubtedly missed the point guard's presence on the court, it seemed as though the rest of the team took it upon itself to step up in his absence. The team's heart was evident from the start of the game but really showed in the second half, putting forth the defensive effort and intensity on both ends of the floor necessary to close out the win. The Trojans had nine blocks (three apiece for Stewart and Julian Jacobs), seven steals, and 20 points off the bench in the scrappy victory. "This team is very resilient," Enfield explained. "I was really happy for our young players to show that they can compete at this level and play well in a Pac-12 basketball game. It's important for our players to get that win. We have to kind of scratch and claw to be in games and I'm proud of them for doing that today."
Here are the SnappyTV highlights from the game including a buzzer-beater first half dunk from Jacobs and a phenomenal off-the-glass alley-oop featuring both Stewart and Jacobs...
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