The Trojans battled all game, but could never overcome the Bruins' 18-5 run from early in the first half, losing their final regular season game against their crosstown rival.
Second Chances
The Trojans looked for redemption in the Battle of Los Angeles after the Bruins blew them out of their home gym back in January, losing by 17. However, USC lost by 11 on Wednesday despite a hard-fought effort against a UCLA team that is hitting its stride at the right time. "I think they played hard, they played well throughout the game. The second chance points really hurt us," said head coach Andy Enfield, referring to the fact that UCLA had 22 points off offensive rebounds to USC's six. "We played well enough to win the game but we didn't rebound enough to win the game." USC just couldn't compete with the physicality of players like Kevon Looney and Tony Parker who scored the first 15 points of the game for UCLA. Looney finished with a double-double (13 points, 13 rebounds) while Parker finished with 22 points and seven rebounds with six of those rebounds being off the offensive glass. The Trojans also gave the Bruins plenty of opportunities in transition as they struggled with turnovers for the first time in a while. "We made a couple poor decisions in transition where we tried to force things and that led to about three of those turnovers," said Enfield. The team finished with 16 turnovers leading to 22 points for UCLA. This high turnover ratio is somewhat of a step back for the Trojans who have drastically improved their decision-making since the beginning of the season.
The Rally that Never Came
The Rally that Never Came
The Trojans are known for their late game heroics with nine games since the start of conference play that have come down to the final minutes. After heading to the locker room down by 12 at the half, USC came out in the second half looking for another epic rally to close out its season. The Trojans brought the UCLA lead within eight points five times in the second half, but as soon as they would go on a run, the Bruins would hit a clutch shot most likely from the hands of Bryce Alford who finished with 23 points. "Every time we cut the lead to seven or eight, they hit a tough shot," said Enfield. "So give credit to them. We played hard." Katin Reinhardt, who's been looking for his time to shine in recent games, came in off the bench providing the Trojans with a spark they needed. He led the team at the half with 12 points and finished the game with 22 points including five three-pointers in just 29 minutes. Elijah Stewart joined him as the threat from beyond the arc, finishing with 14 points, and PF Nikola Jovanovic contributed 16 points from the paint.
Tournament Time
The Trojans now enter the Pac-12 Tournament as the No. 12-seed and will face the No. 5 seed on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. PT. If USC wins its first-round game then it will face rival UCLA for the third time this season. The Trojans will be without PF Strahinja Gavrilovic who is out for the season with a torn labrum. Gavrilovic joins PG Jordan McLaughlin who is also out for the season with a shoulder injury. Though the Trojans finished in last place in the Pac-12, they played just about every conference team hard with nine games coming down to the wire as previously mentioned. Enfield has preached all season that USC could have won a handful of those games if the ball bounced the Trojans' way a few times. So, anything could happen for USC come next Wednesday in Vegas.
Here are the SnappyTV highlights from Wednesday's loss at Pauley Pavilion...
