This is how it was supposed to look. This is how it was supposed to be. This is how USC was supposed to play men’s basketball throughout the 2023-2024 college basketball season.
In a “where the heck has this been hiding?” type of performance, the Trojans came alive and throttled Stanford, 93-79, in the Galen Center on Saturday. They played like the team we expected to see on a consistent basis. This was the USC team we hoped would show up at least three out of every five games. The Trojans might have needed to grind out a few ugly wins here and there, but going into the season, they had the tools and talent to play like this a majority of the time.
We finally saw it all come together against Stanford.
Isaiah Collier: 26 points. Boogie Ellis: 22 points. Kobe Johnson: 21 points. This supremely talented backcourt finally played like it. The combined totals for USC’s big three: 26 of 47 field goal shooting, 11 of 16 3-pointers, 13 assists, just 3 turnovers.
That’s the stuff. That’s what we expected all along. It’s a real bummer that USC couldn’t deliver this kind of game more often. The big hope is that the Trojans can begin to replicate this level of performance.
If they can win seven of their next eight games, then we’re talking. Until then, however, the disastrous December for this team still has the Trojans well out of the NCAA Tournament picture. They need to get hot and stay hot — for a month, at least, if not more — in order to become a factor on the NCAA Tournament bubble.
USC flipped the switch on Saturday. The Trojans now have to make sure that switch stays on until mid-February.
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