USC basketball seeks redemption against Stanford

The 15th-ranked Trojans (17-2 overall, 7-2 in Pac-12) can avenge their first loss of the season when they host the Cardinal on Thursday night…

Adam Grosbard (OC Register)  —  LOS ANGELES — For about a week, it looked as though the USC men’s basketball team had lost its identity. The Trojans looked lost on the defensive end of the court, of all places, and were allowing teams to get off easy shots at all three levels. The discombobulation led to USC’s first two losses of the season, both coming in a three-game stretch.

But the 15th-ranked Trojans (17-2 overall, 7-2 in Pac-12) have bounced back with three wins in a row, all of which relied upon a regrouping on the defensive end of the court.

Against Colorado, USC held the Buffs to 31.4% shooting, albeit with a 46.7% mark from 3-point range. The Trojans limited Utah to below 40% on both fronts in their next game, then did the same to Arizona State on Monday to help propel a first-half comeback.

Following the loss to Oregon that preceded this latest winning streak, guard Boogie Ellis said he felt like USC wasn’t doing a good enough job of communicating on defense. This led to lagging help defense and allowed other teams to get shooters open for easy looks.

But a greater emphasis on communication, as well as a return to practice after the 19-day COVID-19 pause, has helped USC look like the team that didn’t allow a single opponent to shoot above 40% from the floor in its first 12 games.

“Back to where it was before the COVID pause. Some of the games after the COVID pause, we didn’t defend at a level necessary to compete,” USC coach Andy Enfield said. “We have to be mentally engaged and play within our system and then guard the ball and rebound.”

“I feel like if we continue to grow and talk on defense, by the time March comes around we’ll be a really solid defensive team,” Ellis added.

The next test will come on tonight against Stanford (11-6, 4-3), the team that handed the Trojans their first loss two weeks ago. USC understands that it is playing differently than it was then. But that does not mean there isn’t a little extra motivation going up against the Cardinal.

“We let ourselves down and lost an opportunity. So we feel we gotta go with a chip on our shoulder,” Ellis said. “We want to be a top-five team in the country and they took that away from us.”

ocregister.com

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