USC escapes with a sloppy victory over Washington in the Pac-12 tournament

USC escapes with a sloppy victory over Washington in the Pac-12 tournament.

USC had endured a lot on its way to the Pac-12 Conference Tournament. Brutal beginnings. Close finishes. Long defensive lapses and unfortunate offensive slumps. Somehow the Trojans seemed to always find a way, even in the worst of times.

They were pretty close to that nadir again on Thursday, if not trailing the bare bottom of their all-too-familiar stall. They had turned the ball over 23 times, a season-high. Their top scorers had fallen flat on their faces. Nearly every facet of his 40 minutes pointed to an unforgivable quarterfinal loss, the first in the Pac-12 tournament under coach Andy Enfield since his first season as coach.

But against all odds, even as third-seeded USC tried again and again at the last minute to surrender their clumsy effort, it didn’t matter. The Trojans, however, emerged unscathed, at least physically, in a 65-61 win over sixth-seeded Washington. They advanced to take on second-seeded UCLA in a semifinal game on Friday night at 8:30.

The Trojans escaped even as the last two turnovers came in the last minute. With 37 seconds remaining, Max Agbonkpolo threw a missed pass just as USC had taken a four-point lead. When Washington cut that lead to two, Drew Peterson lowered his shoulder to a Washington player just 10 seconds later, giving the Huskies another chance. They quickly gave it away again, as Isaiah Mobley had a loose ball out of bounds.

“We were just making roads [to turn the ball over]Enfield said. “We couldn’t hold the ball. Three times the ball passed directly through our hands. We couldn’t catch it with two hands. We went out of bounds twice. We got caught up and panicked and just threw the ball at no one. It’s not like our freshmen are doing that. They were our seniors. If they want to win more games in this tournament and in the NCAA, they have to do a better job.”

Still, even the barrage of unfortunate errors couldn’t help Washington hit a late shot, as USC gave the Huskies every opportunity to send the Trojans packing after a night in the Pac-12 tournament. The Huskies missed 11 of their last 12 shots from the field.

And somehow, USC still had trouble writing off Washington.

Enfield preferred to focus his attention after the game on the fact that the Trojans had escaped.

“Our players have played in a lot of big games,” Enfield said. “We are 10-1 in games of 5 points or less this year. That’s a sign of toughness, it’s a sign of mental toughness and great defense when it matters.”

Whether that will be enough to survive against UCLA on Friday remains to be seen, but the renewed defensive effort was the difference on Thursday. When USC clamped down and made adjustments, Washington shot just 23.5% in the second half.

But after riding their first losing streak since last February in Las Vegas, USC looked like a team that ended its regular season on the wrong note.

Where the Trojans might have quickly allayed any concerns Thursday about a possible postseason freefall, they instead inspired more questions about their trajectory in the upcoming NCAA tournament, namely how they might fix their sudden rotation problem or how They would stop another star. the guard who came out as hot as Terrell Brown Jr.

USC fought mightily to stop Brown early as the all-conference pick opened by scoring Washington’s first nine points. Even as the Trojans covered Brown, offering help from all directions, the Huskies’ silky leading scorer weaved his way through the lane with ease.

He scored 16 points in the first 16 minutes of the game and 21 points in the first half, ending his early onslaught with a high, missed a three-point shot with time running out in the first half.

He would only score two more in the second half, finishing with 23, as USC struggled to get the ball out of his hands after turning Washington on its back.

The opposite was true for the Trojans’ top scorers, whom Enfield had called up earlier this week to step up.

Neither Isaiah Mobley nor Drew Peterson made much of an impression, shooting just 7 of 16 for 18 points and combining for six turnovers. Both remained without a converted shot until the 12th minute of the first half when Mobley finally hit a layup. It took Peterson almost 15 minutes before he nailed a jump shot from the top of the key.

Washington built an early lead on USC not only through Brown burning through USC’s defense but also forcing early turnovers, five of which came in the first seven minutes.

Those issues would resurface after the half, just as USC seemed to stabilize its shaky start. The Trojans fired off an 11-2 run, regaining the lead five minutes into the half, only to turn the ball over six times in the next five minutes.

Those turnovers seemed to be the undoing of USC. But again, the Trojans escaped, not intending to leave Las Vegas just yet.