LAS VEGAS – As dubstep pumped through the speakers in Vegas, a rocking overstimulation of a hostile crowd and Arizona’s body-bumping defense overwhelming USC with their season on the line, freshman Isaiah Collier stood by halfcourt out of the break and closed his eyes.
He breathed. In. Out. In. Out.
This was mayhem, a freshman taking a moment before the war resumed on the floor of T-Mobile Arena. This was college basketball at its finest Thursday afternoon, two teams with regular-season history matching up in the second round of a one-and-done conference tourney, unwilling to give an inch. Open jumpers came as freely as water in Vegas. Arizona’s Caleb Love and Collier, their programs’ respective top scorers, exchanged words and snarls virtually from the tip.
And Collier’s breaths were for naught, as USC’s composure fell apart by the second half. Passes were thrown scared. Jumpers were taken short-armed. USC’s shot died in the desert against Arizona, a drought unlike any other they’d seen in a rocky season, and their season died with it in a 70-49 loss in the second round of the Pac-12 Tournament.
They’d finally clicked by March, a roster fully healthy, rolling off a four-game winning streak as players like Collier and wings Kobe Johnson and DJ Rodman tapped into grooves they’d never found all season. But they ran into Arizona, frothing at the mouth from the tip after USC embarrassed them last Saturday, a team that has still never lost in the Pac-12 Tournament in head coach Tommy Lloyd’s tenure.
And a season that began with March hopes, with super-senior Boogie Ellis returning for one last NCAA Tournament shot and top recruits Collier and Bronny James joining the fray in viral explosion, fell short for the last time Thursday.
Kobe Johnson scored 14 for USC on 6-of-10 shooting, one of the only highlights of the night. Collier scored 13, but early-season struggles with giveaways resurfaced, and he finished with six turnovers. Ellis had a rough night in what will stand as his final game of collegiate basketball, shooting 2 of 11 and fouling out.
Down 28-16 after not finding a bucket for the last 5:49 in the first half, USC (15-18, 8-13 Pac-12) found no answer out of the halftime buzzer to a swarming Arizona (25-7, 16-5 Pac-12) defense, their worst habits resurfacing after a much-improved run to close the season. In the first few months, USC struggled so fervently with ball control and rebounding that the coaching staff began tracking turnovers and offensive rebounds in team-against-team drills in practice. It worked, seemingly, for a while.
Until the second half against Arizona. Seven minutes in, the Wildcats’ KJ Lewis grabbed an offensive rebound for a putback layup to put Arizona up 17. A few seconds later, Arizona snatched a pass from USC’s Vincent Iwuchukwu and Love forced an ill-advised three in transition, only for Lewis to snag another rebound and lay in a back-breaking and-one layup.
Shoulders slumped. Any Newton of energy left in USC’s balloon deflated. And T-Mobile erupted, Wildcat faithful chanting and savoring the moment with glee.
U of A! U of A!
This was – for all intents and purposes – a home game for Arizona, the desert faithful streaming into T-Mobile in all their vibrant red and chants of U of A. Nary a shred of USC red could be seen in Vegas on Thursday afternoon besides the student band, their players introduced to boos as Arizona’s starting lineup was greeted like gladiators, and USC’s back was to the wall before the ball was even tipped.
Last Saturday, USC overwhelmed Arizona with their physicality on defense, holding Pac-12 Player of the Year Caleb Love to just 1 of 10 shooting in a surprisingly emphatic win. No more. Arizona came out hounding USC, so physical that the Trojans’ perimeter players could hardly get into any sort of off-ball action, possessions too often ending in a rushed floater or a three-pointer without feet set.
Ellis got going early with a pair of threes off dribble handoffs, and USC flew aggressively on defense, trapping Arizona ball-handlers on baseline drives and forcing tough jumpers. Center Joshua Morgan feasted inside, and Arizona turned the ball over nine times in the first half – but USC couldn’t capitalize in an astoundingly cold shooting stretch, bricks piling up on the west-side rim at T-Mobile.
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After five straight USC misses, Arizona’s Pelle Larsson unlocked the net with a transition three to push the Wildcats’ lead to seven. Back down the floor, USC freshman Bronny James spun and seemed to be tripped by a defender, losing the handle. No foul called. Enfield’s face writhed with rage, visibly coming a few choice words shy of a technical. A few plays later, a pull-up Love triple pushed Arizona’s lead to 12 at the break, any hope at a comeback seemingly impossible inside the rocking maelstrom at T-Mobile.
And with USC down 22 with 7:25 left in the second half, captain Ellis picked up his fifth foul, reality setting in as he trudged off the floor in anguish. His last seconds at USC were coming here, a brilliant career and a self-transformation coming to a close, his last moments in a Trojans jersey.
He hugged his teammates on the bench, the outcome already decided, slumping into his chair and putting his face in his hands for a moment. Time, despite all fight, had run out.