The 2023-2024 USC men’s basketball season began on a promising note on November 6 against Kansas State. The Trojans won comfortably in Las Vegas against a school which reached the Elite Eight earlier in the year. Isaiah Collier looked the part of an elite point guard. USC had some ingredients it hadn’t possessed in several years. USC seemed like a program about to take off.
A month and a half later, the Trojans are grounded. They are stuck in the mud. They are going nowhere.
USC was not remotely competitive against Auburn on Sunday. The Trojans were run out of Neville Arena in a game which was never close. Auburn gained a 17-9 lead under seven minutes into the game. When the Tigers regained an eight-point lead at 22-14 with 11:37 left in the first half, they maintained a lead of eight or more points for the last 31:37 of the game. USC went down quietly, mounting no real resistance whatsoever. This team is completely lost under head coach Andy Enfield. An NCAA Tournament berth is becoming increasingly unlikely, despite USC having more talent on paper than it has in the past several seasons.
USC needs to find answers quickly, but no solutions seem to exist for a team which has nothing to offer right now.
Visit our friends at Fighting Irish Wire, Buffaloes Wire, and Ducks Wire.