Too Hot To Handle
Thursday night's quarterfinal match began as a back-and-forth brawl with 15 lead changes in the first half and the Trojans' leading with just under three minutes to go. USC fought hard, but could not keep pace with Utah which shot 60.8 percent in the game, including 10-of-22 from beyond the arc. The Utes also outrebounded the Trojans, 35 to 31, and dished out 22 assists to USC's nine. The Trojans battled back in the second, piecing together a 13-5 run late in the game to pull within two, but the Utes were able to fend off the comeback thanks to Kyle Kuzma's 23-point effort and a late dagger of a three from Brandon Taylor.
"It's never a good feeling when you lose. Especially when you're highly capable of beating a good team," said a frustrated Julian Jacobs after the game. "With that being said, I'm still proud of the team, of how much we've accomplished so far. It just sucks losing."
Backcourt Brawn
In USC's first loss to Utah earlier this season, the Trojans' two point guards combined for 37 points. On Thursday, Jacobs and McLaughlin led the charge again, combining for 40 points, seven assists and three steals. Twenty of McLaughlin's 24 points came in the second half as the sophomore PG orchestrated the Trojans' late come-from-behind run. The duo took care of the ball, turning it over just five times to Utah's 13, but struggled to move the ball efficiently on offense. Unfortunately, the backcourt generals' efforts simply weren't enough as just one other Trojan scored in double-digits - Katin Reinhardt (13) - and USC finished with a 42.9 percent shooting mark.
And Now We Wait...
With their Pac-12 Tournament journey now over, the Trojans have four days to see if their work this season is enough to be invited to the Big Dance. Despite a frustrating 3-7 slide to end the season, USC's final 10 games featured five losses to Top 25 teams, an aspect of the Trojans' resume that head coach Andy Enfield isn't ashamed of. The head coach was quick to highlight USC's impressive wins this season in the postgame press conference, eager to point out the remarkable turnaround made by his team this year. The Trojans will discover their NCAA fate on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. PT in CBS's two-hour Selection Sunday broadcast.
"I think with our strength of schedule and how many Top 100 wins we have, there's no question that we deserve to be in the [NCAA] Tournament," said a confident Enfield after the game. "I certainly wouldn't want to play us. We're very streaky and explosive, as you've seen the last two games. But that's out of our hands... We will be like a lot of other teams waiting on Sunday to see what the situation is."
Here are the SnappyTV highlights from the Trojans' quarterfinal game...
