USC Basketball: 2019-20 takeaways from road win over UCLA

By Andy Patton | Jan 12, 2020

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MARCH 14: Head coach Andy Enfield of the USC Trojans reacts during a quarterfinal game of the Pac-12 basketball tournament against the Washington Huskies at T-Mobile Arena on March 14, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Huskies defeated the Trojans 78-75. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

2 of 4

LOS ANGELES, CA – DECEMBER 21: Onyeka Okongwu #21 of the USC Trojans (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /

USC can win without Onyeka Okongwu…but it’s not easy

Tons of NBA scouts were in attendance for this one, and almost all of them were certainly there to get a look at dynamic USC big man Onyeka Okungwu.

I sincerely hope most of them found a cheap place to stay or at least some good food or entertainment in LA because otherwise, their trip was a bit of a bust.

Foul trouble limited Okongwu to one of the worst games of his collegiate career, as he finished with just four points and two rebounds (both offensive) along with three blocks and four fouls.

Trojan fans certainly would have taken a win if they knew Okungwu only had four points, and they have the rest of the supporting cast – and poor shooting from UCLA – to thank for that.

USC’s two other scorers, Nick Rakocevic and Jonah Matthews had 17 and 16 points (respectively) and shooting 50 percent from downtown as a team certainly helped.

Still, USC probably knows they don’t win too many games without Okongwu chipping in, and while they proved they can do it in this one – matchups against Oregon, Arizona, Stanford and the rest of the conference will certainly make that difficult.

Home/USC Trojans