USC Basketball: Returning Trojan Shows Off "Competitive Spirit" In OT Cal Loss
On Wednesday night, USC Trojans freshman point guard Isaiah Collier suited up for the first time in a month. His shooting may have been incredibly inefficient, but he got to the charity stripe seemingly at will, and was a big reason the Cardinal and Gold rallied from a 16-point deficit to force overtime on the road against the California Golden Bears.
Collier finished with a game-high 20 points, albeit on a miserable 4-of-13 shooting from the field, but an impressive 12-of-16 shooting from the foul line. He also chipped in three rebounds, three dimes and two swipes.
Per Luca Evans of The Orange County Register, head coach Andy Enfield allowed for some grace in assessing the 6'4" Murrieta, Georgia product's initial game back on the hardwood.
“You saw his competitive spirit … no one’s perfect, but he sure tried as hard as he could to help us win,” Enfield remarked.
For his part, Collier sounded optimistic about USC's path to finishing the season out strong. The Trojans have gone 1-7 across their last eight contests (1-5 with Collier sidelined), and currently sit at a deeply underwhelming 9-14 record late into the year, with the NCAA Tournament all but officially out of their grasp now.
“I feel like we can still accomplish a lot of things … it’s our first game back since February with a whole team,” Collier said.
