The Trojans avenged their rivalry loss from January on Saturday, blitzing UCLA with 10 consecutive points to start the second half for a 62-56 victory at Pauley Pavilion.
USC (11-16, 5-11 Pac-12) won its first game at Pauley Pavilion since 2021 and coach Andy Enfield moved into a tie for third on the program’s all-time wins list with his 216th victory.
That life, for years, has been carefully constructed on routine — staying later than anyone else in cardinal and gold after practices, honing his shot relentlessly, grinding in the summers. When routine doesn’t lead to results, negativity seeps into Ellis’ worldview, easy to see across the past month as USC’s season has slipped away. I’m pretty hard on myself, Ellis mumbled after Thursday’s practice; whichever way the ball bounces affects his very state of being, and it has bounced too often away in Ellis’ last year at USC.
“But you gotta stay strong,” Ellis said Thursday, stoic. “Keep pushing.”
“Just using all these games to get us ready for the Pac-12 tournament. We know we have to win out there,” said Ellis.
After making a habit of ceding leads this season, USC gave up another double-digit advantage but responded by forcing 12 UCLA turnovers in the second half and holding the Bruins (14-13, 9-7) to 33.3% shooting from the field.
The loss, UCLA’s second consecutive at home following a heartbreaker to Utah at the buzzer last Sunday, knocked the Bruins off the NCAA tournament bubble for good, barring a championship run in the conference tournament. Already long out of the NCAA tournament picture, the rivalry win helps USC continue to build momentum with a finally healthy roster.
There was little left to play for, really, on Saturday night for Ellis and USC besides simple pride. In September, his first time speaking to media in a new year, Ellis rationalized his reason for a return as a super-senior as “the opportunity to win a national championship,” a dream that’s been dashed for months. USC’s only shot at March dwindled to a run through the Pac-12 tournament as Ellis was beset by a variety of injuries, most notably a hamstring issue in mid-January, knocking him out for a few games and leaving him hobbled for weeks even when he did return.
“He came back, he looked older than me trying to play,” head coach Andy Enfield cracked postgame Saturday.
A sense of urgency rippled through his jabs and cuts off screens against UCLA (14-13, 9-7 in Pac-12), perhaps a USC senior realizing just a few games remained until his draft stock was fully solidified, perhaps a USC senior who simply wanted to beat UCLA for what could be the last time. Ellis flared off one first-half screen on an inbound, fading and falling to his right, draining a triple in a shot reminiscent of Damian Lillard’s best work. He flew down the lane a possession later, lofting a floater to force a goaltend from UCLA’s Adem Bona, Bruins coach Mick Cronin so incensed he immediately signaled for a timeout.
With five minutes left in the half, big Vincent Iwuchukwu — who left his own mark warding off Bona all night — glanced over at the scoreboard. Ellis had 17. That’s a quiet 17, Iwuchukwu recalled thinking.
“But man, Boogie’s impact is so much bigger than just the offense,” Iwuchukwu said postgame.
It was felt in the locker room, after USC (11-16, 5-11 in Pac-12) closed the first half horribly, their bigs falling into foul trouble as UCLA mounted a 17-4 run before the break. Ellis, understanding these Trojans have too often faltered when teams made runs, told guys to focus on getting quality shots in the second half, he said.
And it was felt in Ellis’ demeanor in the second half, scoring just six points on a variety of layups but gritting tough in helping USC ward off the Bruins in an ugly final frame. He finished with five boards, tying for a USC game high on a team that’s struggled massively to rebound, going into a throng and simply ripping the ball away from the Bruins early in the second half.
“I’ve let my team down this year when it comes to rebounding … coming here forward, I’m going to try to really emphasize helping out on the boards,” Ellis said postgame, ever-quick to pin blame on his own shoulders.
And when his shot fell short at times in the second half, co-captain Kobe Johnson stepped up, nabbing a key handful of second-half steals and hitting a massive corner three to put USC up 11 with three minutes to play. It was enough to escape with a win, Ellis’ first against UCLA at Pauley in his USC career. And a season of grit, for one moment, had paid off.
“I’m glad,” Ellis said postgame, “that I’m back to myself.”
latimes.com/ocregister.com
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