When Boogie Ellis missed the front end of a one-and-one, leaving USC’s two-point lead vulnerable with 11.5 seconds remaining, a worst-case scenario started playing in coach Andy Enfield’s mind. The season has already been a comedy of errors. Surely, Utah hitting three at the buzzer to beat the Trojans in a game they led almost the whole way would be a fitting, fateful twist, right?
Joshua Morgan gave Enfield a much better lasting image.
Morgan, the Pac-12’s leading shot blocker, swatted Deivon Smith’s layup with 5.8 seconds remaining, sealing USC’s 68-64 victory over the Utes at Galen Center on Thursday. DJ Rodman secured the defensive rebound, raced down the court for a buzzer-beating layup and roared toward the rafters, giving the slumping Trojans a momentary lift.
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“This win was one of those wins where your entire team stuck together and grinded it out,” said Morgan, who had seven points and four blocks. “Putting anything I did aside, I’m just ecstatic that everyone on the team bought in, everyone on the team came ready to play, everyone wanted to play defense, everyone locked into the scout and we came out with a great win.”
USC was hoping to erase the embarrassment of a 31-point loss at Stanford last Saturday. It was the largest margin of defeat for the program since 2020.
Having dropped eight of their last nine before Thursday’s thrilling win, the Trojans (10-15, 4-10 Pac-12) know the results of the next month are largely inconsequential. They recognize their only hope to make the NCAA tournament is to win the Pac-12 tournament. But before trying to run the table in Las Vegas, the Trojans are still playing for an important prize.
Their pride.
“We didn’t show no fight in that [Stanford] game,” said freshman Isaiah Collier, who finished with 15 points, six assists and three steals. “But we also learned a lot from that game.”
USC had its best three practices in at least a month this week. The coaching staff told the players immediately after the loss at Stanford that the next practice on Monday was going to be hard. No one shied away from the warning shot.
“If you can’t go hard, then go home,” Enfield said of his message. “We have no time for softness.”
USC showed its mettle after Utah’s Cole Bajema hit a three-pointer that put the Utes (15-10, 7-7 Pac-12) ahead by two with 13:05 remaining. The Trojans looked ready to fold. They had let a 13-point lead shrink to five by halftime. They didn’t give any effort on the go-ahead transition basket. Enfield called a timeout.
“It’s no secret, normally when we lose our lead, normally we don’t get it back,” Morgan said. “As opposed to maybe even a week ago, I’d say our team really stuck together. … They had their run and as opposed to just laying down, we fought back.”
The Trojans answered with nine consecutive points. Collier provided the spark on offense. Fellow freshman Bronny James locked down on defense. They teamed for a high-flying dunk as James collected a loose ball off a steal from Ellis and threw an outlet pass to the sprinting Collier, who elevated for a two-handed slam that forced Utah to call a timeout.
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But when James went to the bench with 3:46 remaining, the Trojans’ eight-point lead nearly evaporated as Utah went on a 6-0 run. Holding onto a two-point lead with 33 seconds remaining and needing a defensive stop, Enfield subbed James back in.
James was the closest USC defender when Gabe Madsen turned the ball over out of bounds with 17.5 seconds left.
“In the second half,” Enfield said of James, “he was terrific.”
James finished with seven points, three rebounds and three assists.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
