USC Basketball: Andy Enfield Praises Key Second-Half Trojans Adjustment Vs Wildcats

It was an exciting night in Vegas!

Your USC Trojans took care of business to kick off their 2023-24 NCAA season at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas last night, vanquishing guard Tylor Perry (not the one you're thinking of, that's Tyler) and his Kansas State Wildcats 82-69.

Even though No. 1 recruit Isaiah Collier fouled out of the contest with a bit too much time to spare, and USC let the Wildcats back into the game a bit, the two-way moxie of returning junior wing Kobe Johnson and transfer power forward, combined with the scoring prowess of fifth-year senior guard Boogie Ellis, helped seal an opening night victory. 

Ellis led the team with a game-most 24 points, plus eight boards, five dimes and three steals.

Terrel Emerson of The Los Angeles Times writes that head coach Andy Enfield was especially appreciative of the club's improved defensive awareness in the contest's second half.

“I think we’ll use this as a learning experience,” Enfield said. “It was a big win for us but we didn’t play perfectly. So we’ll go back and look at the video and hopefully improve next game.”

“We held them to 31% from the field,” Enfield said. “They missed 49 shots, so a percentage of those are going to go to them, but 23 offensive rebounds — four of them were team rebounds — but that’s too many. I thought in the second half we were more physical and more focused on it.”

Next up for the Trojans is a date with the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunner, slated for Thursday night at 6 p.m. PT.

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