Boogie Ellis can’t be expected to carry the USC offense in the NCAA tournament

This time, there could be no escape.

Because the crosstown rivals met for his or her rubber match, the chilly realities of March would supply a stern reminder to USC. Slip up as soon as, and your record-breaking season may quickly be over.

UCLA acquired the higher of USC of their third assembly Friday, and as each enter March Insanity with their eyes on one other deep run, it’s the Trojans who’ve essentially the most questions hanging over them.

Right here’s what we realized after USC’s 69-59 loss towards UCLA:

USC has nothing to fret about on Choice Sunday. However after that …

The Trojans is likely to be comfortably within the area, however nothing in regards to the final two weeks ought to go away them feeling snug heading into the NCAA match.

The offense has been stagnant. USC’s prime scorers have been inconsistent. And the protection hasn’t been sufficient to beat both. Even when the Trojans have received over the previous month, they’ve completed so by the pores and skin of their enamel, escaping within the last minutes.

That technique isn’t normally a profitable one this time of yr. All it takes is one slip-up for USC to be despatched packing, and the Trojans have been significantly vulnerable to these varieties of issues recently.

Happily for USC, its invite isn’t incumbent on its efficiency the final two weeks. The Trojans nonetheless received 25 video games within the common season, a faculty file. That counts for one thing.

Most bracket projections have USC within the vary of a sixth or a seventh seed. UCLA coach Mick Cronin referred to as that possible seeding “ridiculously low” and attributed it to “West Coast bias.” However the reality is USC is nowhere close to peaking at an important level of its season. Until it may possibly flip issues round quickly, it might be headed for an early exit.

UCLA had the higher protection, rattling USC on the inside.

All season, USC hung its hat on protection. Its inside work was particularly sturdy given its extraordinary measurement and size. Contained in the arc, few defenses in school basketball have been higher this season.

However Friday night time, it was UCLA that made its presence recognized across the paint. Bruin huge man Myles Johnson helped shut down USC on the inside, leaving Isaiah Mobley unable to make a lot of an influence across the basket. Mobley completed with simply 9 factors, whereas fellow ahead Chevez Goodwin was even much less of an element, ending with 5 factors on two-of-seven capturing.

USC made simply 4 of 17 pictures contained in the arc through the first half on its solution to simply 28 factors. With no constant presence inside, the Trojans had been left scrambling, settling for perimeter pictures as their offense struggled to settle right into a rhythm.

Coach Andy Enfield noticed no cause for concern. “We simply have to complete a few of these,” he stated. “It’s nothing they did.”

However what was as soon as a transparent benefit for USC actually not appears that manner.

USC managed to restrict its turnovers towards UCLA. However its offense nonetheless isn’t shifting the ball easily.

Positive, it’s not laborious to enhance on 23 turnovers. However USC’s 9 giveaways Friday night time really ranked amongst its lowest turnover totals of the season.

That was the excellent news. The issue is it didn’t matter a lot. USC nonetheless struggled to maneuver the ball and sometimes discovered itself counting on Boogie Ellis to make performs in isolation. The artful ball motion that USC has flashed at its finest was nowhere to be discovered. The Trojans completed with a meager six assists, their lowest whole of the season.

“We want the next help whole for us to achieve our potential offensively,” Enfield stated. “We simply have to be extra environment friendly.”

The place that effectivity would possibly come from is a professional query. Ellis isn’t precisely the ground basic sort, and neither Peterson nor Mobley has confirmed themselves as solely succesful catalysts. USC might must determine it out on the fly, because it continues to query who ought to provoke the offense.

Ellis saved USC alive once more. He’s going to want assist in March.

By the tip of Friday’s loss, after he’d poured in a profession excessive, Ellis was utterly out of breath. As he leaned again right into a defensive stance, USC’s level guard was completely exhausted.

It wasn’t laborious to see why. Ellis performed his coronary heart out because the Trojans’ solely constant offensive menace, scoring 27 factors, 16 greater than some other participant in USC’s rotation.

His latest surge is an effective signal for USC because it seeks to search out anybody able to scoring on a constant foundation. Ellis had 44 factors over two video games within the Pac-12 match, placing the Trojans offense utterly on his again.

But when Ellis is USC’s solely constant scorer, then the Trojans are in bother. USC isn’t constructed for that. It wants a number of choices to have the ability to sustain with extra prolific offenses. In opposition to UCLA, although, there was nobody else.

Mobley scored 9 factors. Peterson scored 11. Each will have to be extra of an element subsequent week, if USC has any likelihood of advancing.