The USC Trojans did a lot of things right against Utah. The most important thing might have been that after Utah star Branden Carlson scored 21 points in the game’s first 21 and a half minutes, USC shut him out in the final 18 and a half minutes of the contest.
With Carlson unable to score down the stretch, Utah’s offense — which doesn’t amount to much outside of Carlson — fell apart. The Utes scored just nine points in the final 14 minutes of this game. USC led 48-47 with just over 14 minutes remaining. The Trojans ended up winning by 15 points. They outscored Utah 23-9 in those last 14 minutes.
Obviously, what USC did against Carlson was valuable and important in and of itself. The Trojans needed this win; their defense against Carlson helped them attain a vital victory.
Yet, what is also significant about USC’s display against Carlson is that the Trojans will need this same robust defense against opposing big men when they face Arizona and UCLA.
USC needs to contain Azuolas Tubelis, Oumar Ballo, and Adem Bona. The Trojans have to clamp down on Arizona’s and UCLA’s bigs and force the Wildcats and Bruins to win the game through their backcourt players. If USC can set up shop in the paint and not allow easy baskets or free throws, the Trojans will increase their margin for error.
[mm-video type=video id=01gphsx31sxc4tg63912 playlist_id=none player_id=01f5k5y2jb3twsvdg4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gphsx31sxc4tg63912/01gphsx31sxc4tg63912-60c009444554ba9e9f2729bb91bde462.jpg]
[listicle id=55595]