My notes on the SC vs. Dixie State game
Well an 8 pm start on a Monday night after a big downer against the rival in the Coliseum two days prior, automatically you think the fans will probably not turn out and it looked pretty sparse at the start, but ramped up to a reported 2189 people, not a good number for a #24 ranked program, but it is what it is. Historically, attendance goes up after football concludes and even though football season was very forgettable and face it, historically bad, the bball games have not received the corresponding bump in attendance. Hopefully that changes soon. The energy was provided by DJ Malski, as for whatever reason the Trojan Basketball Band was not there. Usually when holiday breaks occur and the band is given the week off, an alumni band fills in. The band adds so much to the atmosphere, not just with their musicianship, but they also start all of the chants for "Dee-fense" or on offense (Let's Go Trojans and Go S-C). Yeah there were Spirit Squad members, but the students were not really responding to them. Jonah Matthews sat courtside, as apparently his season in Poland is over. They showed the walk-off shot by Jonah against the bruins on the scoreboard, which would be duplicated by Tajh Eaddy last season. This season I can see Boogie Ellis pulling off those kind of heroics.I started my night at the Founder's Room and one of the benefits there, besides the bar with 3 bartenders, is that an hour before tip-off one of the coaches (either Enfield or one of his staff) speaks to the crowd and takes questions. This game we were introduced to new assistant Jay Morris, an LA native and Westchester High Alum, with a BS from CSU Dominguez Hills and Master's from Concordia. He worked at SDSU the past 3 seasons, but his family remained in LA. He expressed thanks to Andy for bringing him home where he can coach and see his family. He has had many stops on the west coast (LBSU, CSUN, Nevada, San Jose St. and SDSU). I must say how likeable Jay was, he is so well spoken and entertaining and you can see how he would be a good recruiter. When asked about his coaching responsibilities, he responded that all of the coaches work with all of the players and that all coaches share recruiting. He was asked who to look out for on the Dixie State (St. George, UT) Trailblazers and he said the big man Hunter Schofield #44, had apparently been effective from 3-pt range and he noted they had a plan to drive him off his spot. I looked up their stats and after 5 games Schofield is second in scoring at 14.8 ppg, behind Cameron Gooden's 16.0. Curiously, I didn't find any Dixie State player shooting the 3-ball at a high rate. The highest number of makes was 5 and Schofield had only 3. Was the scouting report wrong? Would it make any difference - turns out No.
On to the game, the Trojans opened with this lineup: Boogie Ellis, Isaiah Mobley, Drew Peterson, Chevez Goodwin and Ethan Anderson.
SC dominated early on, knocking down 3's and pushing the action up the floor. They ended up shooting 53% FGs for the game and holding DSU to a 32% clip. SC made 12-32 (38%) 3-pt attempts with Boogie drilling 3, and Max Agbonkpolo finally making his first 3 of the season, which turned into 3 straight makes. Drew Peterson is still looking for his first 3-pt make going 0-2. DSU made only 6 of 24 (25%) of their 3's. Schofield was 0-2 from deep and ended up with 10 points on shots around the basket.
The Trojans went to the line just 4 times in the first half, sinking only 1 (25%), for the game they were at 53%, not what we need to see, it was a concern last season and will be this season, until they show they can knock down FTs, especially in crunch time. DSU was good at the foul line at over 77%.
SC outrebounded the Trailblazers 52-38 with 11 offensive boards, but gave up 12 offensive boards as there was little effort at boxing out. The Trojans had 10 turnovers and grabbed 5 steals, while DSU had 7 TOs and 4 steals. The Trojans had 21 assists on their 38 made baskets and the ball was moving around freely. Generally, ball movement has been much better this season than last.
At the half, SC led 47-36, after letting DSU cut into their lead. By game's end the superior talent of the Trojans showed up in the final score of 98-71. At the half I ran down to the Ticket Office and picked up my Wooden Legacy tickets, which features games at the Anaheim Convention Center on Thanksgiving and Black Friday. SC opens up Thursday against St. Joseph's and will play either SDSU or Georgetown on Friday. Obviously, the Friday opponent will be the bigger challenge for SC and I was so looking forward to this, but went I got home my son told me that he was able to get tickets for the CIF SS Final between Servite and Mater Dei. He is a Servite (and SC grad) and last witnessed the Friars reach the CIF Finals in his freshman year in 2009, when Servite won the State Championship. Given the rarity of this event happening and the fact that the Friars are fielding their best team in a decade and are coming off an upset of Bosco, I was forced to make the difficult decision to go to the football game and forego the basketball game that I had been waiting for since the match ups were announced this summer.
Back to the game, the Trojans, as they have done all season outscored the opponents in the paint 48 pts to 30. They scored 16 pts off of fastbreaks in the game, while DSU had only 9 fastbreak points. Points off the bench were a big factor for SC with 34 to 16 for the visitors. The bench was used earlier in this game than it has in prior games. By the 12 minute mark in the first half, all of the bench players, sans Malik Thomas and an injured (ankle) Boubacar Coulibaly garnered minutes and they responded fairly well. Reese Dixon Waters showed his skills and athleticism, and after an airball, stroked consecutive 3 pointers on his way to a 9-pt game. He had only 5 points in all appearances combined last season. Harrison Hornery nailed a straight-on 3 pointer and Kobe Johnson was the main ball handler and had 2 assists and 1 bucket. Malik didn't get his chance to play until about 3 minutes left in the game and he missed his only shot.
Boogie Ellis led the Trojans in scoring with 19 pts in 25 minutes (no starter had more than 25 minutes) and you marvel at how versatile and adept at creating his own shots he is. He can hit from deep, mid-range and driving to the hoop. He has good hops and pulled down 5 rebounds and had 3 assists, but did turn the ball over twice.
In a pleasant surprise, Max had his best game as a Trojan. In just 15 minutes off the bench he scored a career-best 17 points, with 6 rebounds and a pretty steal that started a fast-break for the Trojans. If he continues to shoot like this (50% FGs, 3-7 3FGs), while having only 1 turnover, he may make his way into the starting lineup. As it is, he seems to have moved ahead of Isaiah White in the rotation. White was a non-factor in this game with 2 pts in 14 minutes. He also was not effective coming off the bench in his last game against FGCU with 1 pt in 14 minutes. White needs to step up his game and disrupt like he did most of last season, with his effort and relentlessness.
Isaiah Mobley was steady in his 25 minutes, scoring 14 pts, but hitting only 1 of his 3 3-pt attempts. He was not spectacular and the offense did not run through him. He had 6 boards and 4 assists, with one TO and he stayed out of foul trouble.
Chevez followed up his 2 big games by getting a double-double with 12 pts (6-7 FGs) and 11 rebs to lead the team. He plays very hard on both ends of the court and had only 2 fouls. He definitely is an asset in the paint and scores with either hand or many times both hands, as he threw down 4 dunks. Josh Morgan spelled Chevez and while only scoring 1 pt, had 3 blocks and 4 rebounds in his 16 minutes.
I thought that Ethan Anderson played very effectively and was the fifth Trojan in double figures scoring, 13 pts on 5-8 FGs, including 2 made threes. He played strong but under control, with 3 rebs, 3 assists and a block, while turning the ball over only once. He has really improved his game and is avoiding turnovers.
The next game is against St. Joseph's on Thanksgiving day at 6:30 pm. St. Joe's is from the Atlantic-10 conference and comes in with a 2-2 record. The Hawks' have four players scoring in double digits, led by Taylor Funk (18.5 ppg), followed by Jordan Hall (15.5), Eric Reynolds (10.8) and Ejike Obinna (10.0). The Trojans need to continue to show growth and develop their younger talent, whenever possible. Fight on! Beat the Hawks!
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