Culver City Observer -

The USC men’s basketball team didn’t have enough to stage a comeback late as they were defeated, 70-60, by UC Irvine last Tuesday at the Galen Center on the USC campus.

USC came into this game as the No.16 ranked team in the country and struggled in front of a packed Galen Center crowd. “They played a very good game and made some tough shots. But this is more about us. You can't shoot 28% from the field and expect to beat a good team,” USC coach Andy Enfield said after the game.

The Trojans played the game without two of their best players, guard Boogie Ellis (right ankle sprain) and Kobe Johnson (left knee discomfort) due to injury, but USC does have a new star when it comes to the Los Angeles hoops scene and his name is Isaiah Collier. The number one overall recruit from years’ high school ranks did all he could to help the Trojans pull out the win but it wasn’t enough.

Collier finished the game with 23 points but also turned the ball over seven times. But Collier wasn’t quite 100% coming into this game. “He (Collier) only practiced half a day yesterday, he’s been hurt the whole week, he hurt himself and banged knees in our last game.” I thought he gave a good effort, but he got tired and started cramping up,” said Enfield.

USC lost this game due to 17 turnovers and shooting poorly from the three-point line. The Trojans shot 19% from long range (4-21) while the Anteaters made 4 more threes shooting 32%.

Without Ellis, the team’s leader and floor general the team struggled to get a rhythm on offense, but the Trojans will need to learn how to win games without some of their best players in the future if the expect to compete in a very good PAC-12 conference.

The Trojans look to get healthy as they prepare to match-up against Brown University on Sunday, November 19th at 5 p.m. at the Galen Center.