USC basketball: Takeaways from Trojans close loss to surging Arizona Wildcats

USC Basketball came into Thursday night with a big opportunity in front of them: the chance to move into a three-way tie for first place in the Pac-12. Consider it an opportunity squandered.

USC Basketball was shaky to start off Thursday’s game vs Arizona, a big-time matchup featuring some of my favorite 2020 NBA Draft prospects.

USC basketball had a new-look starting lineup, as regular starters Jonah Mathews and Nik Rakocevic came off the bench due to a previous “violation of team rules.” Though USC head coach Andy Enfield maintained that it didn’t have much of an effect on the team, it must be noted that he checked both players in with USC trailing 12-9 very, very early in the game.

The Trojans fell behind early and though it was back-and-forth in spurts, the Wildcats didn’t seem very worried in the first half, going in leading by 10 points. Despite USC falling into an early hole freshman Onyeka Okungwu was great, keeping the Trojans in the game on both sides of the ball. He received help from the team as a whole, shooting 50% from the field and 35.3% from 3-point range but much of that was boosted by a late stretch.

Despite looking lifeless for most of the game Enfield was surely encouraged by the way his team clawed back down the stretch. USC won the second half 47-42 but the free throw disparity as a result of some undisciplined defense was just too much. USC basketball got quite a bit out of their closing group in a game they were trailing by as many as 20.

This is the first time in the 2019-20 season that USC has lost consecutive games, so despite the tough defeat, they can be proud of that and look forward to getting back on track against Arizona State on February 8.

Here are three takeaways from USC’s five-point loss to Arizona.