Quick break
Why the Buffs gained: CU outscored USC 44-21 within the second half whereas holding the Trojans to a .241 subject purpose share within the second half.
Three stars
J’Vonne Hadley: Narrowly missed the primary double-double of his CU profession, ending 7-for-11 with team-leading totals of 15 factors and 9 rebounds.
Cody Williams. One of many key elements of CU’s second-half defensive effort, Williams completed with 13 factors, two rebounds and two blocked pictures.
KJ Simpson: Early foul bother helped restrict Simpson to a season-low 9 factors, however he added 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and three steals.
Up subsequent: The Buffs host one of many Pac-12’s early front-runners, Oregon, on Thursday (8:30 p.m., FS1).
The Colorado males’s basketball workforce had just lately been in the identical place as USC. As just lately as, effectively, simply final week.
For the previous 5 weeks, the Buffaloes have performed shorthanded. Till final week, the Buffs managed to go 5-0 because the begin of a run of accidents started with freshman Cody Williams getting sidelined greater than a month in the past. Though that streak ended with a depressing 0-3 street journey final week, successful a number of video games with out Williams and, later, senior Tristan da Silva made CU head coach Tad Boyle adamant in mentioning a shorthanded USC workforce was to not be taken evenly.
The Trojans limped into Boulder with out three key gamers, but nonetheless very almost managed to limp residence with a victory. Not less than till the Buffaloes put collectively a dominant second half, rallying previous USC for a 68-58 Pac-12 Convention win on Saturday evening.
The end result snapped CU’s three-game dropping streak and ended a run of three consecutive losses in matchups towards the Trojans. Earlier than a season-high crowd of 10,005, the victory additionally marked this system’s five hundredth win on the CU Occasions Heart.
USC performed with out its high-scoring beginning backcourt, with Boogie Ellis (hamstring) and freshman Isaiah Collier (hand) each sidelined on account of harm. USC ahead Joshua Morgan, the highest shot-blocker within the Pac-12, additionally missed his second consecutive recreation on account of an sickness. The Buffs, in the meantime, performed with their high seven rotation gamers for the primary time since Dec. 3, as backup guard Julian Hammond III returned from a two-game absence on account of a again harm.
“I really feel like we have been attempting to not (look previous USC) as a result of we have been on the flip facet of it,” da Silva stated. “We had me and Cody out, and we went 2-0 within the first two video games of convention play. That may’t actually be our mindset coming into video games, that their essential guys are out and that they’re simply going to surrender and provides us a W. They performed effectively within the first half, however we turned it round within the second half.”
For a CU workforce that has struggled to place collectively 40-minute efforts defensively, the primary half provided one other irritating sequence, because the Trojans used a sizzling begin to construct a 16-point lead. CU managed to chop the deficit to 37-24 on the break, however USC went into the locker room with a .469 subject purpose share and loads of momentum.
CU erased that momentum in a rush after the break.
Buffs burst out of halftime with 12-2 run to get again within the recreation. CU took its first lead because the opening moments on a 3-pointer by Luke O’Brien with 10 minutes, 34 seconds remaining, and CU used an 11-1 run within the closing minutes to drag away.
CU shot .563 within the second half and held USC to a .241 mark (7-for-29) after the break. Though the Buffs have been outrebounded for simply the second time this yr (40-36), additionally they completed with a season-low eight turnovers.
General, CU outscored USC 44-21 within the second half, and the rally from a 16-point deficit tied for the Eleventh-largest comeback win in program historical past.
“I informed the workforce as quickly as we determine basketball is a 40-minute recreation as a substitute of a 20-minute recreation, we’re going to be fairly good,” Boyle stated. “However till that point, we’re going to have nights like this. We have been clearly not excellent within the first half in any capability — our protection, our offense, every little thing. We have been lucky to be down 13 (at halftime), to be trustworthy.
“However credit score to our guys, they regrouped the second half. They strung some stops collectively and stored believing in one another.”
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (8-9, 2-4)
Iwuchukwu 5-8 0-0 10, Rodman 4-10 1-1 10, Hornery 0-5 0-1 0, Johnson 3-9 3-3 10, James 0-7 0-0 0, Wright 2-4 0-0 4, Sellers 7-14 2-2 18, Web page 1-4 3-4 6. Totals 22-61 Sept. 11 58.
COLORADO (12-5, 3-3)
Williams 4-10 5-8 13, da Silva 5-12 0-0 12, Lampkin 5-9 2-3 12, Hadley 7-11 0-0 15, Simpson 4-11 0-0 9, Hammond III 1-5 0-0 2, O’Brien 1-3 2-2 5, Diop 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-61 9-13 68.
Halftime — USC 37-24. 3-point subject objectives — USC 5-17 (Rodman 1-2, Hornery 0-3, Johnson 1-5, James 0-3, Sellers 2-2, Web page 1-2); Colorado 5-17 (Williams 0-2, da Silva 2-6, Hadley 1-3, Simpson 1-1, Hammond 0-2, O’Brien 1-3). Rebounds — USC 40 (Iwuchukwu, Rodman 7); Colorado 36 (Hadley 9). Assists — USC 9 (Johnson 4); Colorado 14 (da Silva, Simpson 4). Turnovers — USC 14 (Johnson 4); Colorado 8 (da Silva 3). Complete fouls — USC 11; Colorado 14. Technical fouls — CU coach Tad Boyle; USC coach Andy Enfield. Fouled out — none. A — 10,005.