LAS VEGAS — Isaiah Collier ambled to the scorer’s table, earning a brief minute of rest before one final fourth-quarter push, Andy Enfield pointing to the bullpen to summon his closer.
In the beginnings of the year, Collier was mere brushstrokes of the player USC envisioned they were getting out of high school, the powerful top-ranked recruit bruising others and himself in a rough start. He scored, yes – but often played haywire in final minutes, out of control, and with the ball in his hands USC’s season too often slipped in the closing minutes.
A few months later, Collier’s growth has been ascendant even as his numbers have barely budged, blooming as a decision-maker even as the stem has barely budged. And with USC clinging to a three-point lead late upon his re-entry for Bronny James, who’d just made three crucial free throws, the ninth-seeded Trojans closed out eighth-seeded Washington 80-74 in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament on Wednesday afternoon.
After snaring a rebound, Collier controlled the pace with time ticking under three minutes, eventually firing off a pass to USC captain Boogie Ellis on the wing. A red-hot Ellis caught and fired a deep 3-pointer in smooth rhythm, an early dagger before turning back to sparse early-afternoon stands in Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena and wagging his tongue.
Ellis finished with 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting, USC’s captain bringing his absolute best in what could be his final run in a Trojans jersey. Collier, who’s struggled all year at sub-70% from the line, made two free throws with 30 seconds left to close out Washington and finish with 13 points and seven assists. And as the buzzer sounded and USC advanced to the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Tournament, wing Kobe Johnson – who stuffed the stat sheet with 16 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals – held his pointer finger up aloft: One down.
USC (15-18) will face top-seeded Arizona (24-7, 15-5 Pac-12) on Thursday afternoon, whom the Trojans beat Saturday but will prove as stiff a test as any team USC will face in Vegas.
USC buckled early, hardly carrying the sense of urgency Enfield had preached as essential earlier this week. Washington took a quick 19-10 lead off an avalanche of 3-pointers, the Huskies’ Koren Johnson firing off one corner triple and turning to USC’s bench in a taunt before the ball had even grazed the rim.
USC settled quickly, captain Kobe Johnson keying improved defensive activity with a turnover-forcing trap on Huskies top scorer Keion Brooks Jr., whom USC held to just 13 points on 4-of-16 shooting. Clean offensive sets from Enfield, generating perimeter looks on dribble handoffs, and opening interior feeds to bigs from Ellis and Isaiah Collier keyed a 9-0 run in response and back-and-forth action the rest of the half, with USC forcing a bevy of turnovers.
But Washington continued to find open gaps in any USC defensive look – zone or man – in the corners, hitting five first-half corner threes. Moses Wood hit three straight across a minute-long span late in the first half, followed by another corner triple from Brooks Jr., and all Enfield could do was cock his head in exasperation before Wood hit a miracle, one-handed deep 3-pointer to put Washington up five at half.
Ellis continued a strong night with an early three in the second half. James changed the pace when inserted early in the second half, forcing multiple turnovers with intense lateral movement defensively and hitting a jumper. Koren Johnson matched him for Washington, though, hitting a mid-range shot to put Washington up 56-53 with 10:31 left – setting the stage for a season-deciding test of USC’s crunch-time capability, one of a litany of fatal flaws in a disappointing season.
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The Trojans failed, to start, the offense stalling briefly after a charge called on Collier. But the freshman point guard has grown by leaps and bounds since an early stretch of the season playing out of control; he has become USC’s closer, through and through, and a euro-step, laser pass to Joshua Morgan and swing to Boogie Ellis for a triple put USC up five with a few minutes to play.
Wheeler finished with 20 points for the now-eliminated Huskies and Wood had 17. James had seven points, including those three crucial free throws, and five rebounds in a major defensive impact for USC.