USC Easily Sinks the Ducks; Gonzaga Awaits

USC drowns Ducks with sea of threes, ending 20-year Elite Eight wait

Ryan Kartje (LA Times)  —  Defense had always been its calling card. When the threes weren’t falling and its offense wasn’t clicking and the sloppy mistakes threatened to sink USC, defense was the one thing Andy Enfield could consistently depend on. The coach rebuilt his roster ahead of his eighth season with that intimidating image in mind, stockpiling size and doubling up on length, all in hopes that the rest of its talented pieces would come together at the right moment.

That moment has now stretched through four magical, unexpected weeks of March. It bulldozed right past Drake, ran right through Kansas, and on Sunday in the Sweet 16, rolled right over the top of Oregon, drowning the Ducks in a sea of threes and tangled Trojans arms at Banker’s Life Fieldhouse. What began as a simmering rematch to rewrite the Pac-12 title for USC quickly became a stunning 82-68 beatdown on its way to the Elite Eight, its first time so deep in March since 2001.

“This is a big moment in USC basketball,” Enfield said. “It’s our second Elite Eight in the last 60 years. This is a huge win for our players, our program. Our players, they’re very mature. They do celebrate and they have fun, but we have another game to play on Tuesday and we’ll go give it our best shot.”

With its defense dominating and its unexpected offense soaring, arguably no team has proved more powerful than USC through three rounds of the NCAA tournament. No one except perhaps for top overall seed, undefeated Gonzaga, this season’s juggernaut, which awaits USC in the next round.

But the undefeated Bulldogs, with their litany of NBA talent, have yet to face a defense quite like USC’s. After holding both Drake and Kansas to just 29% shooting, USC suffocated Oregon in nearly the same manner, stifling its guards with size and crowding the paint with its length. Even a strong start couldn’t save the Ducks, who shot just 37% and 24% from the three-point line, which had been their bread and butter on the way to the Sweet 16.

For USC, that run continued Sunday just as confidently as it began, carrying USC further than anyone in their right mind could’ve expected at the start of March.

But the Trojans proved again just how thoroughly they’d been underestimated. A season that started with the media picking USC just sixth in its own conference has now left the Trojans as one of just eight teams left in the field. Three of those teams are from the Pac-12, which has spent this March rewriting its own recent history.

“Everyone doubted us,” USC guard Isaiah White (left) said. “Once we found out they had us at sixth in the Pac-12, I think we really came together, just to prove everyone wrong.”

That revenge tour was already a wild success ahead of Sunday, even before USC locked down on defense midway through the first half. As Oregon found its rhythm early, Enfield chose to switch to a zone to contain its bevy of guards.

“When they’re small, I didn’t think we could guard them man to man and win the game,” Enfield said.

The adjustment turned out to be all USC (25-7) would need to turn up the pressure. Suddenly, Oregon could barely manage to get a shot off. Every drive was stopped dead by USC’s size in the lane. Every ball screen was stifled by the Trojans’ unusual length. As Oregon passed and passed and passed around the perimeter, there were no openings to be found in the paint.

That’s when USC found its stroke on the other end. The Trojans had started off with a pair of airballs, missing four of its first five from the field. But once the nervous energy of USC’s first Sweet 16 appearance wore off, they came alive again.

Tahj Eaddy, who hit six threes in their first meeting, pulled up in transition from deep with 11:28 left, giving USC its first lead. Isaiah White followed with a three of his own.

The two transfers had mostly taken a backseat over the past month, cooling off from previous hot streaks. They’d deferred largely to Evan and Isaiah Mobley, for whom Oregon again had no match for on the interior.

But it was Evan Mobley’s 11 assists in two games that impressed Enfield the most.

“When your most talented offensive player is your most unselfish and willing passer, you can win a lot of games like that,” the coach remarked.

There would be no deferring on Sunday. White had scored in double figures just twice since the start of February, but against Oregon, he exploded for a season-high 22 points. Eaddy, meanwhile, added 20, his first time scoring that many since USC’s previous win over Oregon, when he scored 24.

“We weren’t backing down,” White said. “We came out kind of flat, and they were leaving certain people open. I just wanted to let them know we weren’t letting down.”

latimes.com

__________

TrojanDailyBlog members  —  Always feel free to add information or topics to the TDB which don’t necessarily pertain to any particular moderator post or member comment.

 

 

SUBSCRIBE HERE TO RECEIVE NOTICE OF NEW COMMENTS OR REPLIES.
Notify of
21 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
LawyerJohn
LawyerJohn
Offline
March 29, 2021 9:45 am

Big bad No. 1 Gonzaga now anxiously awaits, and even if SC pulls off this upset, 2 more Regional No. 1 teams potentially lie in wait. So SC was not going to win the National Championship this year. But they instead have won something much bigger and better and long-lasting. Respect! Finally, after all these years… And the beauty of it all is that SC now is in the running for Top-Talent every year. A 7-foot kid now thinking over his One-and-Done college, might say to himself, “Do I want Duke or USC?” Ok, so I can dream a little,… Read more »

Chris
Major Genius
Chris
Offline
March 29, 2021 10:38 am
Reply to  LawyerJohn

You throw in the towel too quickly.

Chris
Major Genius
Chris
Offline
March 29, 2021 12:15 pm
Reply to  Allen Wallace

As a homer, heck yeah! If I were betting a mortgage payment? Um…. but I am excited to see how it plays out.

in my opinion, this Gonzaga team is about as good as any I’ve seen. I think there are 5 sure fire NBA guys on the roster who are all really skilled. That’s a whole bunch to overcome, but we are playing great. It will be fun to see our defense match up against their offense.

John Weld
Admin
Noble Genius
John Weld
Offline
March 29, 2021 1:30 pm
Reply to  Allen Wallace

Every great athlete will tell you that they believe they can win every time they suit up and they do not want any teammate who believes otherwise. Last night after the victory I felt a sense of satisfaction that the team made it to the ‘Elite 8’ and that whatever happens against Gonzaga we had a successful season. This morning I woke and decided that if the team felt the same way as I did, they had no chance of winning, so I am officially predicting a victory!

John Weld
Admin
Noble Genius
John Weld
Offline
March 29, 2021 8:54 am

Two Minute Recap of Trojan victory over Oregon

Chris
Major Genius
Chris
Offline
March 29, 2021 9:19 am
Reply to  Allen Wallace

Great adjustment! I am sure we will zone up Gonzaga as well. They have much better shooters and a skilled post. I think we can man up Timme and play him straight up. I don’t think we can man up Suggs and Kispert, they are just too good. But if we stay in the zone and challenge looks from 3, we might be able to give them a hard time. Gonzaga has not been in a single game this season where they have had serious pressure in crunch time, I’d love to see us take them into the final minutes… Read more »

TrojanRJJ
Noble Genius
TrojanRJJ
Offline
March 29, 2021 8:15 am

The BB team avenged the FB team’s loss to Oregon. Another great game. Thee (3) straight double digit wins in the NCAA tournament. SC will now play the consensus #1 team in the nation and one of the better teams in the last decade. It starts 4 All Americans! I have never heard of that outside of the UCLA Jabbar teams. As a poster pointed out below, only one of the starting five for SC would play for Gonzanga. Mark Few has a ton of NCAA Tournament experience; Enfield has very little. What is probably the best team in SC… Read more »

danielmcd1
danielmcd1
Offline
March 29, 2021 7:26 am

I was thinking this morning about coach John Wooden, and I could not remember who was there coach before him. I looked it up and Wooden was head coach of UCLA basketball from 1948 to 1975. I was born in 1950 so I never knew of them having another coach. But UCLA did not win their first NCAA title till 1963-64 season in Wooden’s 16th year as head coach. Andy Enfield is in his 8th years as our head coach and we are here at this place, the Elite Eight. My conclusion is that USC should give coach Andy a… Read more »

TrojanRJJ
Noble Genius
TrojanRJJ
Offline
March 29, 2021 8:08 am
Reply to  danielmcd1

Danielmcd1, I now agree with you. I normally do not like giving coaches that much time, but this is clearly the best BB team in the last 50 years at SC. As Allen has consistently held, SC has zero legacy in BB and legacy does matter. If you are going to build a legacy, you need to be patient with a coach who has ability. And, when you have your best team 8 years into your tenure (rather than your first, as was the case with Clay), that is a sign of a coach who has learned and is learning.… Read more »

Steveg
Noble Genius
Steveg
Offline
March 29, 2021 7:06 am

Can this USC defense stand the test of the Gonzaga systematic offense? I can see USC working out a win over these guys if they can keep them out of the lane. You live or die by the three and that may be the way USC beats Gonzo, forcing them to take bad shots out of necessity. Of course USC will have to shoot a high percentage to pull it off. This bandwagon thing is lots of fun.
Imagine USC/ucla in the title game? Have we ever been closer to it?

Golden Trojan
Noble Genius
March 29, 2021 10:20 am
Reply to  Steveg

Best case scenario, SC and the little Gutties in the National Semifinal Game.

rleeholder1
rleeholder1
Offline
March 29, 2021 5:25 am

Another outstanding win by SC! Good to see White and Eaddy come through in a big way last night. These two transfers must be elated to be on an Elite 8 team! I like our chances against Gonzaga due to our size and guys like White and Eaddy stepping up. As with all sports in my opinion, Defense wins Championships. Our Defense has been very solid in the tournament and will have to play at its best against the Bulldogs on Tuesday. Good to see 3 Pac-12 teams in the Elite 8. The West Coast teams continue to baffle the… Read more »

ATL D.D.S.
Noble Genius
ATL D.D.S.
Offline
March 29, 2021 5:08 am

Good Morning Fellow Trojans! I am glad all of you got to see a great performance by Team Enfield. This blog was the first time I saw our happy news and the score–thanks to all of our Trojan round-ballers for putting a smile on my Monday morning face! Fight On, guys!

ATL D.D.S.
Noble Genius
ATL D.D.S.
Offline
March 29, 2021 5:12 am
Reply to  ATL D.D.S.

I mean all you west coasters could stay up for the game. Old people who have to wake up at 5:30 am EDT with a clear mind (like me), need to go to bed early and not watch games that start at 10 pm the night before!