USC men’s basketball at Colorado: What to know
Boogie Ellis reacts after sinking a 3-pointer against Stanford during the first half Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023, in L.A. (AP/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
USC at Colorado
When:Â Thursday, 6 p.m.
Where:Â CU Events Center (Boulder, Colo.)
TV/Radio:Â ESPN 2/AM 790
Records:Â USC 19-8, 11-5 in Pac-12; 15-13, 7-10
Adam Grosbard (OC Register)
Last meeting: USC held on for a 68-61 win over the Buffs at Galen Center. Colorado got within one with two minutes to play, but the Trojans hit their free throws and forced turnovers to hold on for the win behind Drew Peterson’s 15 points.
USC’s last result: Boogie Ellis (above) scored a career-high 33 points and distributed a career-high seven assists in the Trojans’ 85-75 win over Stanford. Ellis was aided by a 21-point, seven-rebound performance by Drew Peterson and the return of center Joshua Morgan (ankle) and guard Reese Dixon-Waters (leg) after four-game absences.
Colorado’s last result: The Buffs tried to fight back, but did not have enough firepower to get close on the road against Arizona, losing 78-68. Colorado was dominated in the paint as Arizona’s starting bigs Oumar Ballo and Azoulas Tubelis combined for 31 points and 20 rebounds. The way Colorado shot the ball (38.7% from the floor, 29.2% from 3) did not allow the Buffs to overcome this disadvantage.
Matchup to watch: Morgan and Vincent Iwuchukwu vs. Tristan da Silva. The Buffs proved vulnerable in the paint against Arizona. Morgan and Iwuchukwu will have to look to get involved in the USC offense early and often on Thursday to put pressure on Colorado and its best player, da Silva, and try to get him into foul trouble. Morgan looked solid on defense in his return from an ankle sprain but wasn’t heavily involved on offense, while Iwuchukwu had one of his quieter nights. USC will need them if it can steal a big road victory.
USC trend to watch: In consecutive games, USC has posted season highs in 3-point shooting (12 against Cal, 13 against Stanford). But in the game prior, USC made 1 of 14 against Oregon State. The Trojans’ season has been defined by fluctuations in shooting. Some nights, USC has its touch, others it can’t hit anything, with leading-scorers Ellis and Peterson going through the same pattern. So can USC start to make its shots consistently? We’ll see how the Trojans do against Colorado.
March resume check: The Trojans are currently 55th in the NET rankings and an 11-seed in both ESPN and CBS’s bracket projections, requiring a play-in game in the First Four to qualify for the main NCAA tournament. Against 61st Colorado, USC has a Quadrant 1 opportunity on Thursday to boost its resume.
ocregister.com
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Great parting shot by Arlege: https://www.on3.com/teams/usc-trojans/news/musings-from-arledge-memo-to-george-kliavkoff/
A bit harsh on SDSU, 18th most popular really? Easily 4th or 5th, after USC, UCLA, Stanford and maybe Cal, even with Fresno, better than San Jose, Davis and Cal Poly SLO. With a bigger budget SDSU could be a Power 5 football, they are already a top 25 basketball.
Love the last sentence most.
Is this a new name on the PGA TOUR as a name that will be on leaderboards ? >>>>> Justin Suh currently leading Honda Classic (From Wikipedia) >>>>> ” Suh represented the United States at the 2018 Eisenhower Trophy where he won the silver medal together with Cole Hammer and Collin Morikawa.[2]
He played college golf at University of Southern California where he was Pac-12 Player of the Year in 2018. ” .
ASU AD Ray Anderson on the state of the Pac-12 Ray Anderson — “Certainly, we’re all anxious to have something resolved here in the next couple, three weeks, so we can take the next steps and get some of this speculation out of the air in regard to what other conferences may be thinking in terms of trying to pick off Pac-10 teams, if you will, and what we may do in terms of adding institutions,” Anderson told the Bickley & Marotta Show. “Getting a media rights deal will clear the air for figuring out some of that other stuff. “We’ve just… Read more »
As you said, the sports story of the year. I have no idea how this will turn out. My guess is neither does this AD. To be honest, he would be negligent in his job if he were not investigating other options while denying that he was doing it.
Mark Schlabach (ESPN.com) on why OU has the most to prove this season — Oklahoma is going to play one more season in the Big 12 before departing to the SEC along with TEXAS in 2024. The Sooners were kings of the Big 12 under Bob Stoops and Lincoln Riley, and there’s pressure on Brent Venables to get things right in 2023. Sure, Riley can probably be blamed for some of OU’s troubles, after he poached quarterback Caleb Williams and receiver Mario Williams to the Trojans. And Riley didn’t exactly leave the cupboard stocked on defense. The Sooners surrendered 30 points and… Read more »
Phil Steele predicts preseason AP college football top 10 1 GA 2 ALA 3 OHIO ST 4 MICH 5 PSU 6 LSU 7 FSU 8 CLEM 9 USC Last Year’s Final Ranking and Record — No. 12 (11-3) Heisman winner Caleb Williams and his fingernail messages return for 2023 so the offense should be explosive again under Lincoln Riley. However, the real question is if the USC defense can stop teams at a much better clip than it did last season. 10 ND yahoo sports Steele — “This Top Ten is now part of the spring guide which I will post on the… Read more »
The “Defense Grinch” raises his head once again. Right now, the SC D is among the most talked about in collegiate ball, every time for the wrong reason. I still think Grinch will not survive the year, but hopefully he proves me wrong. Maybe Tackett Curtis will be the second coming of Leroy Jordan and will resurrect his career.
USC basketball trolls Deion Sanders after smashing up the Buffs on the court, 84-65
USC Men’s Basketball USC_Hoops
“Hope he enjoyed the show!”
The win over Colorado was a Quad 1, sure to help our resume. 13-5 in conference. But because of the painful loss in Corvallis, we really need a road sweep Saturday.
PN4SC, Very strong win in a game SC came in as an underdog. I still think I got it right that SC has to win 3 of its last 4 (or win the Pac Tournament) to make the tournament. That Oregon road trip was a disaster, being routed by the Ducks and then losing to the Beavs really put this team “behind the 8 ball.”
USC dominates CU in Boulder 84-65, one point off their biggest lead of the night. For the first time ever, USC has 20 wins for the 4th consecutive season. Boogie Ellis scored 21 points as USC easily defeated Colorado in Boulder on Thursday Ellis made 7 of 16 shots with two 3-pointers for USC (20-8 overall, 12-5 Pac-12), who have won three straight. Kobe Johnson had 15 points and seven rebounds, while Reese Dixon-Waters added 15 points and five boards off the bench. Drew Peterson pitched in with 11 points, six rebounds and six assists. Tre White had 10 points… Read more »
USC WR John Jackson III entered the NCAA Transfer Portal on Thursday. Jackson III is the 4th WR to seek transfer this offseason along with CJ Williams, Gary Bryant Jr. and Kyle Ford. Jackson III was a three-star prospect out of Serra, the No. 94 receiver via the 247Sports Composite. He opted to grayshirt for the 2018 season in attempts to play at his dream school; Jackson III joined the team in 2019 after a stint at a JC. He held offers from BC, BYU, UNLV, UCLA, TENN, ORE and NAVY, among others. USC is set to open spring camp next… Read more »
Had to be asked to leave. No way would JJ 3 have left on his own. He knew he was not going to play, got his degree and was asked to take one for the team. I wish him well. Great story coming to SC to follow in his dad’s footsteps and having his dad see him play every week. Just never happened.
A true win-win for all involved. Great to see things work out like this.
Unbelievably interesting testimony by Alex Murdaugh (a very experienced trial lawyer himself) today on both direct and cross during his murder wife/child trial. Incredible trial overall so far. Such drama, and antagonistic jousting between good lawyers, one the disgraced defendant forced to create some human empathy if possible — who can be very sophisticated on the stand.
It is fascinating — but I was very unimpressed with the prosecution’s cross examination of Murdaugh. Frankly, he demonstrated absolutely no control over the witness, indeed seemed impressed with him. He let Murdaugh run off on self-serving tangents that otherwise could never have been put in evidence, including giving Murdaugh an open floor to recite his own speculation about who else may have killed his wife and child. He was repeatedly corrected on the facts by Murdaugh, as if the prosecutor didn’t do his homework and maybe was surprised that Murdaugh took the stand at all. The prosecutor made a… Read more »
I haven’t been this interested in an American crime like this since the days of Jodi Arias, and before her, Casey Anthony (who somehow got off). Frankly, I doubt this case is winnable now, unless something crazy happens to save the prosecutor’s fatal miscalculation that Old Man Murtaugh would eventually hang himself. during his slip-n-slide calculated blatherings. But it never happened. Murtaugh just kicked butt. For some reason, he reminds me of the incredible James Mason defense attorney in The Verdict: unflappable, devious, ruthless, and totally prepared for anything. “Ask me any question and I’ll answer it,” was his frequent… Read more »
Random vigilante thing is stupid, but so is the “distraction motive.” That was a tremendous stretch. I really think he admitted the motive when he said he didn’t want his son to bear the consequences of dad’s own bad choices. A shitstorm was coming, and it was good-ol’ fashioned embarrassment and shame he was seeking to avoid. He had looked up to his dad, and it was too much to think of being destroyed in his son’s eyes, which was upon him.
Motive’s just very tricky here — in this fantastically mesmerizing and tortured case.
I don’t believe I’m seeing a guilty verdict case yet, but things can turn on a dime in these matters as you know.
I think the combination of Murdaugh being present at the crime scene about the right time, vacating the crime scene at about the right time, running around seemingly randomly after that, lying about all of that until he couldn’t any longer, together with the use of family-owned weapons for the shootings, would seal the deal for me. (Bad guy(s) willing to shoot a woman and young man, especially ones that have “hate in their heart” over the boat accident, like Murdaugh surmised, do not go to the crime scene with a plan to find the weapons there. They bring their… Read more »
Bring on the Rebuttal…
“Alex Murdaugh’s defense in his double murder trial rested its case Monday after calling up 14 witnesses over about two weeks of testimony
“The prosecution, which featured 61 witnesses over three weeks of testimony, said they plan to seek testimony from four or five rebuttal witnesses on Tuesday. Judge Clifton Newman also ruled jurors will be allowed to visit the family’s sprawling estate after the rebuttal witnesses but prior to closing arguments.
“Murdaugh separately faces 99 charges for alleged financial crimes that will be adjudicated at a future date…”
cnn.com
Juror visit. I wonder if the defense will “dress up” the estate to make it look like Murdaugh is the most loving, doting man/father in the world — a la like OJ did when jurors visited Rockingham. OJ’s lawyers removed all the photos of him with his celebrity white golfing buddies and put up pictures of him with African Americans and religious figures. They also put up religious and African paintings and sculptures around the house. Meanwhile, Nicole’s condo, which they also visited, was empty, barren and cold – not anything like it was the night she was killed. It… Read more »
How Johnnie Cochran and his Dream Team (Robert Kardashian, Robert Shapiro, Barry Scheck, Alan Dershowitz, and F. Lee Bailey) ever managed to completely run over the overwhelmed prosecution (Marcia Clark and Chris Darden) at every turn will forever remain a mystery to many of us who were convinced O.J. would never get off. There was so much evidence against him. Armed robbery turned out to be O.J.’s only true Kryptonite. This mesmerizing Murdaugh trial has captivated me like none other since O.J. somehow escaped the jaws of justice and what I thought would be an inevitable guilty verdict. I think… Read more »
To Stream, Or Not To Stream… Dear Andy Staples (The Athletic) — Sell me, and other fans, on why I should be excited about the potential for more games on streaming platforms. Andy, please talk me out of this if you can, but I keep thinking the Pac-12 is about to make a life-changing mistake on this expansion/TV deal. Staples — The issue for the Pac-12 is that the Big Ten and SEC took most of the available money networks wanted to spend on televising college sports. The Pac-12 then allowed the Big 12, which has a deal that ends… Read more »
If the Pac12 goes streaming, it will hurt their recruiting because college age athletes want to be seen by as many people as possible and the more people that see them the better the chance for a nice paying NIL.
I think there will be a combo approach, if they can wing it. The Big 12 so quickly outmaneuvered the Pac-12 and GK finds himself in such a position of weakness, he’ll need some magic to pull a rabbit out of this hat.
Problem with your hybrid approach is the only games the networks will want (other than ESPN and its PAC after Dark) will be the marquee games, which will be, for the most part, Oregon and WA. That will lead them to demand an unequal share. If Utah, AZ, CO and ASU can get $31 mil from the Big 12, they should grab it! If they wait, their bargaining position for a full share will likely fade. Does Utah want to play full time on a streaming service? Or Coach Prime? Until your post, I had no idea just how badly… Read more »
This is truly one of the most amazing sports news stories ever, or at least in some spectrum. How this entire, ever-deepening Pac-12 extravaganza, all started by SC, works out in all its tentacles, is a real sight to see.
I recently spoke at length about (something totally irrelevant) with a guy who suddenly claimed to be a pretty decent friend of GK’s.
GK was painted as an extremely bright, leader-type guy who is well-connected and well-liked.
Now GK finds himself in the total business fight of his life, and all of the west coast teams’ football survival hinge on his immediate performance over an extended time.
What a brutal job, the Pac-12 commish!
I do not think there are any rabbits to pull out of the hat, but if I were in charge I would go all in on big 12 and ACC merger. Full national conference.
If that failed, which it would. I would add Gonzaga, San Diego State, Boise St, Fresno St, and UNLV. Gonzaga does not play football but they are now close to blue blood basketball program, certainly top 10 in country. thats not a magic bullet, but would add a few TV markets and brands to lock down west coast.
Who knows if these scenarios haven’t already been plumbed to the depths? Or not. The game can change fast, like when USC suddenly blew up the Pac-12 with the stroke of a pen. This is such a complicated, critical move that the Pac-12 has to either make, absorb, or both with so many new considerations like NIL and the Portal suddenly dominant. Anyone who wants to stay close to the B1G and the SEC has to either join therein — or form a giant 3rd entity it would seem. Can’t wait to see how it all shakes out. ORE and… Read more »
Absolutely right, IMO Allen, The only thing keeping the PAC together is the hope they can keep Oregon & UDUB in house by giving them bigger pieces of the TV money pie. The BIG 12 merger will not save west coast football teams as they won’t draw any interest on the west coast fan support as BIG10 teams will. Not even close.
Allen: Is there any possibility of SC and the Little Gutties redacting their move to the BIG and staying with the PAC-12, if the PAC ever signs up for a decent media package? I’m living in Northwest Arizona now and don’t get the chatter I used to when I lived in Westlake Village, CA. It seems to me that USC and UCLA are going to incur heavy travel costs once they go to the BIG next year, amongst other significant changes. Plus, I would think that some diehard fans that have attended road games in the past might balk at… Read more »
No chance for redaction, sorry.
But I’m very glad, for huge piles of dough, we’re ditching these overly greedy, financially strapped Pac-12 clowns in the west, especially deadbeats STAN and super leech CAL, who don’t really care about football and wear that as some sort of elitist badge. Bye, bye, fellas. Good luck without USC.
I’ll miss playing schools like CU (now that they have Primetime) and always tough UTAH. Hopefully, we will still schedule them sometimes.
I agree that STAN and CAL don’t really seem to care about football. I’m so glad I didn’t go to Graduate School at either campus back in the late 1970s. I stayed at USC to get an MBA and believe it was one of the best decisions in my life as I wanted to stay in the LA area and work there.
Chris, No can do as the ACC is locked up in a long term media deal (I think for the next 7 or 8 years). I do not think adding the schools you suggest will not solve the problem. The major media platforms have been locked up by the SEC and the B1G. What remained was locked up by B12. What is left? One solution is streaming, but that will probably end up killing to conference. I doubt any major football program will agree to it. My guess is any school that can is now seriously exploring legitimate exit strategies.… Read more »
I agree. This is the sport’s story of the year. It is possible we are seeing the demise of a Power 5 conference. I think it is 50/50 as to what happens. It is NOW clear that GK lacked the experience needed to rectify the mess Scott left behind. He did not anticipate SC leaving (and UCLA leaving with it) AND no contingency plan in effect if it did; he did not anticipate the dire need to lock up a non-streaming media deal prior to the B12 doing so and had no contingency plan in place when that happened. I… Read more »
The USC/UCLA stealth bomber exit was perfectly executed and timed.
Just like the Lincoln Riley immediate overnight transport to USC savior deal.
USC is always on the cutting edge lately — instead of the follower-type program it became under Swann and Helton.
Thankfully, times have changed drastically for the better since then.
So glad SC is leaving the clown conference that is the PAC
Love the irony that the P12 has to offer 2 schools a greater share in profits in order to survive, the very thing they resisted doing in the first place. They can all enjoy eating their crow, especially those not named UW or OR.
Great point! George got horribly outmaneuvered. The cost of hiring someone with no background in collegiate football media as Commissioner. He is a huge upgrade over Scott, but he inherited a mess and then got played. The Big 12 comes out looking really good. Why would Apple be a huge upgrade over the PAC network? Right now, I can get the PAC via streaming services like Futol. Apple can easily value the value of the PAC based on the success of the PAC and the streaming services carrying it.
Who can explain why the great minds don’t build up the Pac12 network, get the advertising money behind it, make it affordable for the cable networks to carry it and give it a go. Give ESPN the game they want, also to Fox. Then carry the rest on PAC network. Without Scott around perhaps fresh minds could make it work, or am I missing something?
Chip Kelly at his finest with the Ducks
https://youtu.be/Dm3Le9-ePvw
Excellent! Everybody that has tried to do a live remote with idiots in the back would have loved to said that. Points for Chip.
Prediction for USC vs Colorado (ESPN2 at 6 pm PT) by ActionNetwork Doug Ziefel — If you like defense, this is the matchup to watch. The USC Trojans will go on the road to take on the Colorado Buffaloes. The Trojans have built a fairly impressive resume thus far and have done very well in conference play. On top of that, they come into this matchup on a two-game winning streak. Colorado is eyeing revenge for the first meeting between these two clubs. The Buffaloes fell short when they went to Los Angeles, but are now the favorites this time around (-2.5). USC Trojans If… Read more »
Andy Enfield will be looking for his 203rd USC win tonight when the Trojans take on CU in Boulder at 6 pm. The Buffs are favored by 2.5.
For now, Enfield stands behind Sam Barry (260), Forrest Twogood (252) and Bob Boyd (215).
Matt Zenitz @mzenitz
UCLA is expected to hire Baltimore Ravens safeties coach D’Anton Lynn as defensive coordinator, sources tell @on3sports.
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Lynn, a former Penn State star DB and the son of ex-LA Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn, worked in Baltimore the last two years.
Wonders never cease in the complicated world of football coaches and musical chairs.
Bruce Feldman @BruceFeldmanCFB
Former Tennessee great (and Trojan OC under Clay Helton when USC ran the infamous Gumbo Offense) Tee Martin who led the Vols to a national title, will become the Ravens QB coach. He was Baltimore’s WR coach for the past two seasons.