My notes on the SC vs. UCI game
At the Founder's Club, Coach Jay Morris made his second appearance and was asked how it felt to face his old team SDSU for the first time. He said he didn't sleep the night before and was nervous at the start, but after a couple of minutes, it was just another game to him. I asked him whether it was Ethan or Max in the starting lineup, he said it was Ethan last time and would be Max this time. Morris said you don't want to mess with success, so they'll continue to rotate Ethan and Max. He said UCI was a tough defensive team, an SDSU or Temple-type defense, so the Trojans needed to be ready. Coming into the game UCI was #2 in FG defense and SC #4, so it looked like a tough matchup.After our meal, an Athletics department member surprised us with a comp seating upgrade. We like our season seats in front of the NBA scouts and press tables, but these seats tonight were amazing. We were courtside at center court, the best seats I've gotten in all my years as a season ticket holder. You can hear the players talking and can see the effort on their faces, just a great way to watch a game.
UC Irvine (5-2) at No. 52 in the NET was the second-highest ranked opponent the Trojans faced this season. They are undefeated at home and 1-2 on the road, losing at New Mexico St and Fresno St. They have 2 players averaging double figures: 6-ft-9 F Collin Welp at 12.6 ppg and 6-ft-4 G Dawson Baker at 11.2 pg. Four other players averaging at least 8 ppg. 6-ft-9 F Austin Johnson is their leading rebounder (7.6) and shotblocker (2.1).
UCI's top scorer Collin Welp resembles Brian Scalabrine in the face and body and in his game - he was just missing the red hair! With a name like Welp, I wondered if he was related to the great UW player Christian Welp, the Huskies' all-time leading scorer and 3-time all PAC-10 and 1986 PAC-10 POY. He was the 16th overall pick in the NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers. I learned that Collin is the son of Christian Welp (who passed unexpectedly in 2015 at age 51, when Collin was a HS soph). Collin was very impressive in this game. He and Austin Johnson would do battle with Mobley and Chevez all game. It was more personal for Isaiah as he suffered a broken foot the summer before starting at SC, from being stepped on by Welp. It got more personal when the UCI coaches yelled for their players to "steal the ball from Mobley, take it from Mobley, Mobley can't dribble, etc." Their head coach Russell Turner has a booming Coach O kind of voice, without the Cajun accent.
The Anteaters played like a tournament team. Both teams lived up to their reps by stifling the other team's scoring in the early going. Chevez missed a couple of jump hooks he normally makes and play was sloppy. SC settled down, went up 12-2 and looked like they found the formula, but UCI followed with an 11-0 run (incl three 3-ptrs) and SC was down 13-12. SC continued to have trouble scoring and at one point were down 10 (first double digit deficit this season), going into the lockerroom down 36-28. UCI played harder and than SC in the first half. They converted SC turnovers into points, the Trojans failed to do yield any points with 5 UCI TOs, which led to fastbreaks.
For the half, UCI shot 43% (13-30 ) FGs, 23.5% (3-7) 3FGs, and 78% (7-9) FTs. SC shot 41% (11-27) FGs, 29% (2-7) 3FGs, and 67% (4-6) FTs.
In the second half, the SC turned up their defense, making it much tougher for the Anteaters to score. They held UCI to 32% (11-34) FGs, 10% (1-10) 3FGs and 40% (2-5) FT shooting. The Trojans were similar with 41% (13-32) FGs, 17% (1-6) 3FGs, and 61% (11-18) FTs. Down the stretch the free throws were key for SC as they made more (15-24) than UCI attempted (9-14).
SC held their 11th opponent under 40% FGs, which was also the magic number last season. Hold the opponent under 40% and you win. UCI shot 37.5% for the game and the Trojans despite shooting only 41% won the game 66-61. This was a total grind it out team effort. It had to be that way. SC's guards had a terrible shooting night (Boogie 1-4, Ethan 1-3 and Drew 1-10), so they had to pound the ball inside. Chevez (season-high 23 pts) and Mobley (22 pts) carried the scoring load and won this game for SC. They had 17 of USC’s 24 baskets, 10 of its 13 in the second half and 45 of its 66 points in the game. They dominated inside, outscoring UCI 44-18 in the paint
My star of the game is Chevez Goodwin, who after a slow start, ended up 8-13 FGs and most impressively made 7-11 FTs down the stretch. These were needed to seal the win. In addition to a team-leading 23 points, Chevez had 6 rebs and 2 steals. He had 3 key blocks, after having only 2 blocks this eason. Andy said the coaches had really worked on Chevez's game in the offseason and called him one of the hardest workers he has coached. His work is showing up this year. This coaching staff can develop players. Every player on the roster has shown improvement since last season and this has led to a lofty AP No.10 ranking.
Mobley was co-star and is very comfortable in his leadership role on the team, producing from inside and out (2 made 3's). He had a game-high 12 rebounds as USC put-rebounded UCI 46-33, this included 15 offensive boards which led to 20 second chance points. Mobley added 2 assists and 2 steals with 0 TOs. He's looking like the player we wanted him to be and that he needs to be to get drafted. He and Chevez work well together and make each other better in practice. Add Josh Morgan and the F/C position is in good shape. Morgan had 4 pts in 13 minutes on 2-3 FGs (incl a nice midrange jumper), 2 rebs, 1 assist and no TOs. SC was efficient with the ball with onlly 11 TOs for the game, in the face of a physical, harassing UCI defense. Eleven TOs is an improvement over the last 2 games, where they had 15 against LBSU and a season high 18 against EKU.
For UCI, Collin Welp was impressive scoring on drives and midrange, turnaround shots and a 3, for a game-high 24 points in 33 minutes. He was the obvious threat for SC to contain and they made him work for those points, as it took him 25 shots. Per usual, Austin Johnson led them in rebounding with 9 and had a game best 4 blocked shots.
There were no other Trojans in double figures. Max started and scored 6 pts on 3-9 FGs, 0-3 3FGs and 2-2 FTs. He had 5 rebs, 3 assists, a block and only 1 TO and 1 PF. SC avoided fouling with just 12 PFs for the game.
Boogie had a tough game with only 5 pts, but took only 4 shots, nailing his lone 3-ptr and going 2-2 FTs. He added 3 rebs and an assist. Andy praised him after the game for playing like a true lead guard and controlling the game flow, getting his team into the right sets and initiating the offense. He is really a SG, so the fact that he could sacrifice his scoring to help his teammates to win the game was big. He was the floor general that Andy wants. The same goes for Ethan, he played only 13 minutes, and scored one basket, missing his only 3 and both FTs he took. He did have 4 rebs, 2 assists and a steal. Andy pointed to Ethan as doing the little things he wants his lead guards to do.
The roughest offensive game was from Drew, he was held to 4 pts in 37 minutes. He was 1-10 FGs, 0-3 3FGs and 2-4 FTs. He started aggessively taking 3's when he was open, but they did not fall. He was missing a tad to the right on most shots. He contributed with 7 rebounds (second to Mobley), 5 assists to lead the team, and 1 block.
Reese was scoreless in 10 minutes, missing his only shot attempt, but had 3 rebounds. Kobe played 7 scoreless minutes with 1 reb and 1 assist, Isaiah White was scoreless in 4 minutes of play, with 1 PF and 1 TO. He wasn't needed this game.
Despite awful offense, the Trojans' defense won this game for them. This team picks one another up. When one is down, another steps up. Enfield said that if the players care more about winning games than anything else (personal stats), SC will win. I think that is happening, every game different players are stepping up to help the team win. This win gives USC (11-0, 2-0 Pac-12) a Quadrant 2 victory that will factor into NCAA Tournament seeding considerations.
Only 7 undefeated teams remain and SC has a chance to continue that run, next in Phoenix at the Jerry Colangelo Classic, where they meet Georgia Tech and former Trojans Jordan Usher and Kyle Sturdivant. The Yellowjackets, out of the ACC, are 5-4 with wins over Stetson, Lamar, Georgia, Charleston Southern and Georgia Southern and losses to Miami (OH), Wisconsin, North Carolina and LSU.
GaTech is led in scoring by Michael Devoe (22.1 ppg, 55% FG, 53% 3FG, 74% FT) and Jordan Usher (13.7 ppg, 48% FG, 27% 3FG, 60% FT). No one else averages greater than 7.4 ppg. Usher is their leading rebounder (7.0 rpg), but surprise (not) also leads with 27 TOs - 3 per game. Kyle Sturdivant averages 6.7 ppg, 43% FG, 25% 3FG, 68% FT, 2.0 rebs, 2.2 assists, 0.7 steals. He has started 8 of 9 games.
My wife and I are going to Phoenix to see this game at the Footprint Arena (home of the Phoenix Suns) in hopes the Trojans exact revenge on GaTech for the 1992 Miracle in Milwaukee 3-ptr by James Forrest (his only 3 of the season!) that knocked the Trojans out of the NCAAs, ending one of their best Final Four chances. The 1991-92 Trojans were coached by George Raveling to a 24-6 record (15-3, 2nd in Pac-10) and finished 8th in the Final AP Poll. They were led by Harold Miner (26.3 ppg) in his consensus 1st Team All American season before early entry into the NBA draft.
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