Trojans deal with constant foul trouble, fall to Arizona
The USC Trojans have a very important next 10 days as they await their NCAA Tournament fate.
It all began with a tough home game against the Arizona Wildcats, and despite a discouraging first half, the Trojans made it interesting before losing, 87-81.
However, foul trouble bit the Trojans hard. Boogie Ellis, who broke out again with 35 points, fouled out of the game. Reese Dixon-Waters had three fouls.
If that wasn’t enough, both Kobe Johnson and Joshua Morgan had four fouls, and USC finished with 19 fouls.
Ellis and Johnson both had three in the first half, and that forced Andy Enfield to be cautious with their minutes.
Arizona shot just 14-of-21 from the free throw line, but losing your star player to foul trouble early on is never a good sign, especially when Drew Peterson disappeared with 5 points on 2-9 from the field. He was shown wearing a back brace during the game.
With March officially here and the Pac-12 Tournament next week, the Trojans need to stay out of foul trouble, especially with their best players, if they want a chance to win some games in the NCAA Tournament.
USC finishes the regular season with another home game, this time against Arizona State, on Saturday at the Galen Center.
Wow. Kobe Johnson throws the ball at Pelle Larsson's face and picks up a technical foul.
Larsson pushed Johnson, but still can't have your captain throwing the ball at someone's face. That's Kobe's fourth foul as well.
— Shotgun Spratling (@ShotgunSpr) March 3, 2023
