USC Basketball: Without Starting Backcourt, Trojans Drop 4th Straight Vs ASU

That was an ugly one.

Your shorthanded USC Trojans proved once again just how invaluable starting guards -- and leading scorers -- Boogie Ellis and Isaiah Collier have been to their offensive attack today, in a matinee against the Arizona State Sun Devils.

USC fell, 82-67, and looked utterly listless against a high-flying ASU attack.

With both guards sidelined (Ellis has been dealing with a hamstring injury for a shade under two weeks, Collier is recuperating from hand surgery), Andy Enfield opted to start freshman off-guard Bronny James and sophomore shooting guard Oziyah Sellers. 

Neither of those two raw young Trojans, however, is much of a distributor or playmaker yet, so lead ball handling duties often fell to junior wing Kobe Johnson, an All-Pac-12 Defense honoree whose scoring has come on a bit of late.

The 6'6" Milwaukee native took ten more shots than any other Trojan, scoring 13 points on an admittedly inefficient 6-of-17 shooting from the floor (1-of-6 from behind the arc). He also chipped in four rebounds, a block, a steal and an assist. His ball control as the primary playmaker was still a bit flawed, as he had a rough five turnovers, tied with redshirt senior power forward DJ Rodman for the highest such output on the team.

Rodman, at least, flashed some solid three-point shooting acumen on occasion. He would finish with eight points on 3-of-9 field goal shooting (2-of-6 three-point shooting), eight rebounds and three assists in a team-high 37 minutes.

Defense ➡️ offense!

DJ buries the three off AP's steal.

📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/OBgAIK8Jwy

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

Sophomore center Vincent Iwuchukwu paced USC with a 14-point (on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor and 4-of-5 shooting from the foul line), 12-rebound double-double

Turnovers were a consistent issue for USC across the board, as the Trojans coughed up the rock 22 times all told.

Bronny James enjoyed some nice moments offensively as a scorer, although he arguably did not look for his shot nearly enough.

Back-to-back Bronny buckets 🎯

📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/b2EvxurZea

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

Versatile, energetic guard Frankie Collins (17 points on 6-of-13 shooting, plus seven assists and a lethal six steals), bulky graduate swingman Jose Perez (20 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the floor and 3-of-3 foul shooting) and junior guard Jamiya Neal (17 points on 8-of-14 shooting, along with nine boards) led the way for ASU. The Sun Devils absolutely demolished USC in fast break scoring, 27-11.

In losing its fourth consecutive contest today, USC falls to a miserable 8-11 record overall (2-6 in Pac-12 play) on the year, and its chances of missing March Madness are growing by the loss.