Going into this match USC had beaten Oregon, and was in a position to get their second ever away sweep since the start of the PAC-12. And they struggled…. but had a 2point lead at the half. The second half was almost a nightmare….down 8 at the 13:20 mark, up 2 at 9:30 and down a huge 7 at 8:06. But the threes rained down on the beavers parade. Usher came in for 3 straight 3 pointers (4-4 overall) and the Trojans became Rick Barry at the FT line, 13-15.
One thing on those fouls. One of the reasons that its tough to win on the road is the refs tend to be influenced a bit by the crowd. That’s human nature. But at the end of the first half the Beavs had 12 freebies to none by USC. Enfield complained and….yep, got hit with a T making it 14-0 FTs. McLaughlin did get one call at the very end of the 1H, and so it was 14 FTs to 2. at that point I told my wife this will flip in the second half and golly it did. Why? Just guessing but the refs probably looked at the disparity and looked at each other. USC got 22 FTs to 9. See it really was an "even" game. This is my supposition based on a seeing that action a lot in the past.
And of course 3 other matters……since its inception the three point shot has changed basketball forever. There is no safe lead when one can make up 3 point at a time in differential and this year USC is the top 3 point shooting team in the conference. Another factor-turnovers: USC scored 16 points of beavs hiccups. And from a personnel department different lead guys have showed up each night . In this game McLaughlin was solid as always. Stewart who had a bad game vs. Oregon had 18 points with 4-8 on 3's. Usher was the energizer bunny and had, as Enfield said ( and smilingly said Usher would also tell you) Jordan had a good night-14 points in 19 minutes. Metu was solid in FTs to co-lead the comeback. But Boatwright was off most of the night and Usher was kept in for his hot hand.
USC is 6-2 in conference and in second place with Arizona leading at 6-1. Coach Tinkle is to be lauded for getting the one loss Oregon State up to a very competitive team. Beat the trees …revenge for that 50 foot shot.
