USC Basketball: Captain Confident Trojans Can Stun Competition In Pac-12 Tournament

At 13-17, it's their only shot at making the Big Dance.

Your USC Trojans improved to a still-bad 13-17 record last night, as they put away Bobby Hurley's now-14-16 Arizona State University Sun Devils in a surprising (to me) 81-73 victory on Thursday night at the Galen Center.

Fifth-year star guard Boogie Ellis' 28 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor (6-of-8 from long range!) and 6-of-8 shooting from the foul line may have been the headline, but the Cardinal and Gold were also buoyed by another upperclassman captain.

Junior Trojans small forward Kobe Johnson chipped in 15 points of his own, on 5-of-9 shooting from the floor (3-of-5 from long range) and 2-of-2 shooting from the charity stripe. He also pulled down four rebounds, dished out two dimes, blocked two shots and swiped a steal. More integrally, the 2023 Pac-12 All-Defensive Teamer logged some critical stops on that end of the hardwood.

With the club's latest starting lineup (freshman guard Isaiah Collier and Ellis in the backcourt, Johnson on the wing, transfer fifth-year guard DJ Rodman as the team's small-ball four, and center Joshua Morgan at center), the Trojans have now gone 9-4. The program has been a bit snakebitten by injuries all year.

Per Luca Evans of The Orange County Register, Johnson is confident that, as the club begins to coalesce with just one regular season game remaining before the Pac-12 Tournament next week, USC could be able to make some noise in Las Vegas

“I think once we just clean up just holding the lead, and how to finish out games, I don’t think there’s anybody that can beat us,” Johnson said. “I think there’s a really strong chance we’re going to make a strong run here in the Pac-12 tournament, and surprise a lot of people.”

Given the team's underwhelming record, winning the Pac-12 Tournament completely is effectively USC's only shot at making March Madness.