Sports
USC falls apart at end and loses to Washington State
Boogie Ellis walked stiffly into the postgame interview room, dragging his left leg behind him the same way the fifth-year senior is trying to drag an underachieving USC team into the postseason picture.
Ellis fought through a lingering hamstring injury to score 18 points with five rebounds, but lacked his usual explosiveness to make key shots down the stretch in USC’s 72-64 loss to Washington State on Wednesday at Galen Center. After taking a one-point lead off a three-pointer from Harrison Hornery, the Trojans (8-8, 2-3 Pac-12) went scoreless during the final 2 minutes 16 seconds as Washington State (11-5, 2-3 ) finished the game with nine unanswered points.
USC, which started the season ranked 21st in the Associated Press poll, squandered an opportunity for its first three-game winning streak and fell deeper into a muddled Pac-12 Conference. Saddled with home losses to Big West opponents UC Irvine and Long Beach State and a struggling conference that has few opportunities for marquee wins, USC may already have to resort to targeting a Pac-12 tournament championship as its best hope for an NCAA tournament bid.
But Ellis isn’t buying the pressure less than a month into the conference season.
“In my eyes, pressure is always fake,” Ellis said. “At the end of the day, it’s basketball, you gotta go do what you gotta do. You gotta go get wins. Just gotta go win and we’re capable of that. I believe in my teammates, I believe in the guys in the locker room, I know what we’re capable of. I’ve seen us at our best and we have everybody in the locker room. I feel like we have the talent, we just gotta put it together.”
In a normal circumstance, the coaching staff would have tried to get the guard extra rest Wednesday. Ellis is operating at about 60%, coach Andy Enfield said.
But starting point guard Isaiah Collier suffered a right hand contusion with 12:12 remaining after he scored 12 points with three rebounds, one assist and four turnovers. Leading post defender Joshua Morgan already was out because of an upper respiratory infection. So Ellis was forced to gut out the end of the game after practicing minimally all week. He missed the first free throw of a one-and-one with 1:08 left and a three-pointer with 31 seconds remaining as USC was down by four points.
The Trojans had their second-worst shooting night of the season at 37.9%, trailing only the 28.8% stinker against UC Irvine.
Enfield acknowledged the offensive struggles may have seeped over to defense, where the Trojans struggled without Morgan. The redshirt senior’s absence was “the biggest key in my eyes,” Enfield said. The 6-foot-11 forward leads the Pac-12 in blocked shots with 2.33 per game.
Washington State outscored USC 34-28 in the paint, led by 26 points off the bench from Isaac Jones, who was seven for 10 from the field and 12 for 15 from the free-throw line with 11 rebounds.
“To be honest, no one could stop Jones,” said transfer forward DJ Rodman, who scored eight points with eight rebounds and three steals against his former team. “Having rim protection, we take that for granted so much. When Josh is there I’m not worried about if I get blown by, I know he’ll block the shot.”
Enfield did not have a timeline for when Morgan might return and he wasn’t seated on USC’s bench. The Trojans turned to Vincent Iwuchukwu in Morgan’s place, but the sophomore got bullied by Washington State’s post players. Freshman Rueben Chinyelu made consecutive hook shots over Iwuchuwku early in the second half and as he ran back on defense, Washington State‘s 6-11 center signaled the 7-1 Iwuchukwu was too small by holding his hand close to the court.
The Trojans enabled a fourth consecutive team to shoot better than 50% during the second half as Enfield’s once-stout defense has failed to materialize for an inexperienced team. Teams are shooting 43.6% from the field, the highest percentage since 2017-18, when USC settled for the NIT in Enfield’s fifth season.
The coach has lamented USC’s defensive struggles for weeks, and when asked what the team is working on in practice to address the issues, Enfield paused. A lot of the same drills as before, he conceded.
“Some teams grasp the concepts and are able to do it when the game’s going,” Enfield said. “It’s different when you do it in practice. When you get to the game, things are moving fast, different players, it’s not your own team. You have to adjust to other good players and at times we’ve been pretty good, but that is our biggest deficiency this year.”
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Basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley sounded off on the frenzied reactions to the U.S. men’s hockey team getting invited to the White House by President Donald Trump.
Trump talked to the Olympic gold medal-winning team immediately after they defeated Canada in overtime last weekend. He said they would be invited to his State of the Union address and added that he needed to invite the women’s team as well or he would be “impeached.”
Charles Barkley sits courtside against the Minnesota Timberwolves during an NBA Cup game at Mortgage Matchup Center on Nov. 21, 2025. (Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images)
Trump critics took the joke as a shot at the women’s team, which sparked questions from NHL and Professional Women’s Hockey League reporters as the players returned to their respective club teams.
“I’m proud of the United States men. I’m proud of the United States women. You should have invited both of them to the White House, but it shouldn’t have been disrespect, misogyny,” Barkley said on the “Steam Room” podcast. “Like, yo, man, why do y’all have to mess everything up? Everything isn’t Democrat, Republican, conservative, liberal. That’s why we got this divided, screwed up country. Stop it man. Because, you know, the public, they’re idiots. They’re fools. They can’t think for themselves. I know y’all say stuff to trigger them. Y’all say stuff and y’all know they’re going to be fools.”
Barkley lamented that the average person would get riled up over the supposed controversy.
The U.S. team poses for a group photo after defeating Canada in the men’s ice hockey gold medal game at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Milan, Italy, on Feb. 22, 2026. (Luca Bruno/AP Photo)
“We don’t have to fall for stupidity. But we do – that’s my point. These people out here are stupid. They need something to trigger them. Just because they want us to be stupid. We don’t have to be stupid. He should have invited both teams to the White House. Simple as that. Guys who didn’t want to go shouldn’t have to explain why they didn’t go.”
The former Philadelphia 76ers, Houston Rockets and Phoenix Suns star made clear he would go to the White House regardless of whether Trump was in office.
“I’ve said this before, I’m not a Trump guy. But if I got invited to the White House, I would go. I’m not a Trump guy – I want to make that clear. But I respect the office,” Barkley said. “He’s the president of the United States. But if guys don’t want to go, I understand that too. It doesn’t have to be a talking point. It doesn’t have to be un-American.
Megan Keller (5) celebrates with a flag alongside Cayla Barnes (3) of Team United States after scoring the game-winning goal in overtime during the women’s gold medal match against Canada on Day 13 of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Milan Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena in Milan, Italy, on Feb. 19, 2026. (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
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“I just wish y’all would stop falling for the stupidity.”
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Three years ago, as a 14-year-old freshman, Slava Shahbazyan made it to Bakersfield for the state wrestling championships.
“It was good to get experience that young,” he said.
Then came Saturday night when he had a breakthrough moment, winning the state 165-pound championship as a 17-year-old senior for Birmingham High.
“It means everything to me,” he said. “It took four years.”
Shahbazyan, who transferred from Chaminade after his sophomore year, is set to attend Stanford and still in the hunt to be valedictorian at Birmingham. Coach Jimmy Medeiros said he was close to winning last season before finishing fourth.
“He got a lot better,” Medeiros said.
Shahbazyan has been wrestling since he was 8. “My father loves wrestling,” he said.
Two St. John Bosco wrestlers, Jesse Grajeda at 144 pounds and Michael Romero at 150 pounds, also won state titles.
Here’s the link to complete results.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.
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Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Dominiq Ponder died this weekend, the team’s head coach Deion Sanders confirmed on Sunday with a social media post.
“God please comfort the Ponder family, friends and loved ones,” Sanders wrote on social media. “Dom was one of my favorites! He was Loved, Respected & a Born Leader. Let’s pray for all that knew him & had the opportunity to be in his presence. Lord you’re receiving a good 1. Comfort us Lord Comfort us.”
Ponder was 23 years old.
Details of Ponder’s death are not yet known.
Colorado head coach Deion Sanders watches his team warm up before an NCAA college football game against TCU Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, in Fort Worth, Texas. (Tony Gutierrez/AP Photo)
Ponder, a 6-foot-5, 200-pound signal caller, joined the Buffaloes and “Coach Prime’s” program in 2024 after spending time at Bethune-Cookman before making his way to Boulder.
Last season, Ponder played just two games for the Buffaloes while serving in his backup role. He recorded two rush attempts and one pass attempt.
The Opa Locka, Fla., native also received tribute from a fellow quarterback with the Buffaloes, Colton Allen.
Bethune-Cookman QB Dominiq Ponder takes a snap during the Wildcats’ spring game Saturday, April 22, 2023, at Daytona Stadium. (IMAGN)
“Dom, you were a blessing to so many people,” Allen wrote on Instagram. “You had a presence about you that just made everything better. You brought so much joy to me and everyone around you. I’m grateful for every lift, every practice, every rep, every conversation we got to share. I’ll carry those with me for the rest of my life.”
Ponder was going to be a part of Colorado’s spring practices, which are set to begin on Monday. It’s unknown if Sanders will postpone the start due to Ponder’s passing.
Ponder also received a tribute from the University of Central Florida.
Colorado head coach Deion Sanders watches his players warm up before an NCAA college football game against Utah, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025, in Salt Lake City. (Tyler Tate/AP Photo)
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“Our prayers are with Dominiq and the Ponder family along with all in the Colorado football program,” the university’s football account on X wrote.
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