USC Basketball: Former 5-Star Recruit Achieves Major Metric For First Time Ever

USC's big man does his part, but the team falls short.

The woes continue for the Men of Troy. 

Your USC Trojans dropped their fourth game in a row, this time an 82-67 stinker to their Pac-12 foes, the Arizona State Sun Devils. 

Without leading scorers Boogie Ellis or Isaiah Collier available, the short-handed Trojans played as such as the prowess of the Sun Devils was too much. No player scored more than 14 for the Trojans, and their leading scorer, forward Vicent Iwuchukwu, was their lone bright spot in the loss. 

Iwuchukwu, a former five-star recruit from the 2022 class, recorded his first-ever double-double on Saturday against Arizona State. 

Big game on the glass for @chimapaaa.

He's got his first career double-double with 14 points and 12 boards. pic.twitter.com/LBb4bF1vnN

— USC Men's Basketball (@USC_Hoops) January 20, 2024

In 25 minutes, Iwuchukwu recorded 14 points and 12 rebounds, four of them offensive. In the season, the 7-foot-1 sophomore from San Antion, Texas, is averaging 5.6 points on 50.6% shooting, 4.4 rebounds, and 0.6 assists. 

There's no sugarcoating it: Iwuchukwu has been a disappointment since coming out of high school in 2022. The 12 rebounds on Saturday are not only his season-high but his career-high. This season hasn't been pretty for the Trojans, but if they can turn things around and have these types of performances from Iwuchukwu, things could start to turn for USC. 

Nonetheless, congratulations on this milestone.